Rivers government demolishes house of assembly complex

The Rivers state government has commenced the demolition of the house of assembly complex in Port Harcourt.

Bulldozers arrived the complex as early as 6 am for the demolition job.

There are reports that the demolition is being carried out for renovation purposes, amid insinuations that it also has political undertone.

A section of the complex was razed by fire on October 30 as the plot to impeach Siminalayi Fubara as governor of the state intensified.

The government had said it was going to renovate the complex in the wake of the fire incident.

On Tuesday, the Rivers state high court sitting in Port Harcourt confirmed Edison Ehie, an ally of Fubara, as authentic speaker of the state house of assembly.

M.W Danagogo, the judge, restrained Martin Amaewhule and Dumle Maol from parading themselves as presiding officers of the house or interfering with the activities of Ehie.

In a motion ex parte, the judge warned against the use of thugs and police officers to forcefully gain access to the premises of the assembly.

The demolition of the complex also arrives on the heels of the defection of 27 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Fubara and Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), have been embroiled in a rift over control of the political structure in Rivers.

Wike had called Fubara an ingrate after President Bola Tinubu intervened in the political crisis engulfing the state.