JUST IN: 27 Rivers Assembly Lawmakers Join APC

27 Rivers state house of Assembly Lawmakers loyal to the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike have defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC this morning.

Gatekeepers News reports that this is coming amidst the political crisis that has erupted within the state between camp of the former governor and the current governor, Sim Fubara.

It’s not clear if the FCT Minister would also join the party.

As the feud between Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, intensified, Wike on Friday said that 27 out of 31 lawmakers in the Rivers House of Assembly are against Mr Fubara.

Rivers State has been thrown into a political crisis since late October following an attempt by some lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara which resulted in the bombing of a section of the assembly complex.

The Rivers assembly had since then split into two factions – one loyal to Mr Wike who is now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the other faction loyal to Mr Fubara.

Martin Amaewhule is the speaker of the faction backed by Mr Wike while Edison Ehie, a former leader of the assembly who was removed for not supporting Governor Fubara’s impeachment is the speaker of the faction loyal to the governor.

The two factions on Tuesday held parallel sittings. The faction supporting Mr Wike reportedly held a plenary at the partly damaged House of Assembly Complex, a development that triggered the redeployment of the clerk of the assembly and his deputy by the state government.