BY JIMITOTA    ONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT—Deputy Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Leyii Kwanee, has said there could be nothing wrong if the House sits outside the state Assembly complex on Moscow Road, in Port Harcourt.

Kwanee, who spoke with Vanguard on phone, yesterday, shortly after he arrived from a trip, said that with the prevailing circumstance, it would not be a crime if members chose to sit at a venue other than the Assembly building.

“I want you to quote me and quote me very well. I am just arriving Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt. For sure, the House will sit. There is no rule forbidding the House from sitting if the present place has been made impossible.

“What is wrong if the House look for an alternative venue for legislative activities?  From the series of events so far, it had become practically impossible for members to sit at Moscow Road (where the House of Assembly complex is located). Under your watch, members of the House sat on the bare flow on Moscow Road. So, I do not see any crime if the House seeks for an alternative venue for the act of lawmaking,” he said.

The House of Assembly had been sealed by the Police in the state after a fracas between two factions last year.   The crisis led to one of the lawmakers, Evans Bipi also claiming to be Speaker of the House.

On its part, the Felix Obuah faction of  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has accused the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, of allegedly directing some lawmakers to convene a sitting of the House in Government House, Port Harcourt, to consider the 2014 Appropriation Bill and to sponsor a motion rejecting recommendations of the National Judicial Council, NJC, on the appointment of a substantive Chief Judge for Rivers State.

Mr. Obuah, who spoke through his media aide, Mr. Jerry Needam, said any sitting outside the House of Assembly by lawmakers loyal to Governor Amaechi should be seen as null and void and a criminal act.
He said that the party would resist any move by lawmakers to sit outside the House of Assembly complex on Moscow Road, adding that it would also resist any decision from such a forum.