Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has revealed why the State House of Assembly derecognised Celestine Omehia as a former state governor.
Wike blamed the State 32-member legislature for recognising Omehia as a former Governor of the state in 2015,
The governor described their action as a violation of an extant Supreme Court judgement which ousted Omehia and said he never existed as governor in the eyes of the law.
The governor explained that with the benefit of hindsight, the leader of the state assembly even alluded to the apex court’s judgement ousting Omehia, which said he never stood for any election.
He stated this on Friday when he signed a legal instrument into law derecognising Omehia as former state governor at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Wike said the document signing presented by the State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, was an executive action sequel to the resolution of the State House of Assembly during its plenary on Thursday.
According to Wike, with the signing, Omehia’s status as a former governor, with accruable rights and benefits, are now cancelled.
The Media Aide to the governor, Kelvin Ebiri, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday.
The statement partially read, “Yesterday, I received a resolution from the Assembly de-recognising Sir Celestine Omehia, who had enjoyed the privileges of a former governor of the State.
“But you will recollect that sometime in 2007/2008, my predecessor, His Excellency Chibuike Amaechi did not recognize Sir Celestine Omehia as a former governor of the State.
“When we came on board, there were issues and the Assembly felt that, having served as governor, he should enjoy the status of a former governor.
“I’ve always respected the resolutions of the Assembly. I’ve never one day disagreed with anything the Assembly has sent to me,”
