Barely one week after the impeachment of former Governor Murtala Nyako by the Adamawa State House of Assembly, attention seems to have shifted to Rivers State where some lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said they are set to serve the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, a notice.

In an interview in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Friday, the factional Speaker of the House, Evans Bapakaye Bipi, disclosed that an impeachment notice would have been served to Amaechi last week, but that the decision was delayed because the state judiciary is not functional.

“I and my colleagues met last week to serve Amaechi the impeachment notice. But, we are delayed because there is no Judiciary. That is why we have to hold on. As soon as the Judiciary resumes, we will serve him”, Evans said.

But, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Leyii Kwanee, responded that the impeachment process by the six PDP lawmakers was “a mere rumour”.

Kwanee explained that the Seventh Assembly has not found any fault in Amaechi that would warrant his impeachment.

“Six of them cannot and will never think of that. The Seventh Assembly does not see any reason to impeach Governor Amaechi, because, he has not done anything that would warrant his impeachment in any way.

“What you have been hearing is a mere rumour and we cannot waste our time on that”, he stated.

On the defection of 25 lawmakers loyal to Amaechi to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Evans said those seats have already been declared vacant by the PDP, saying that there is a constitutional backing to such declaration.

Evans, who represents Ogu/Bolo state constituency in the House, explained that the 1999 Constitution is very clear on the issue of defection, noting that those who won elections on the PDP platform and decided to defect to another party before the expiration of their tenures have automatically lost their seats.

“Their seats have been declared vacant. In the National Assembly, those who left PDP for APC have since returned because they know what the constitution says.

“They don’t have any legal reason to continue to occupy those seats because they are no more members of the PDP”.

According to him, Section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) says that a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if,  “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected”, he quoted.

In a related development, CEOAFRICA gathered that  the purported planned resignation by the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, has continued to generate apprehension in Rivers State between camps of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some stakeholders.

Insider information has revealed that the PDP in the state are cautious about Wike because he is also of the Ikwerre tribe as Amaechi, as some of them have insisted that the party’s slot must go to some other ethnic group to keep their chances of winning bright.

This comes as Wike’s camp has even gone the extra mile to denounce the rumour of his resignation and governorship ambition.

“There are also jingles on several radio stations debunking the story, which was awash the social media last week”.

A fresh angle to the story emerged on Thursday that Wike has concluded arrangements to quit his ministerial job next month to pay adequate attention to his 2015 governorship ambition in Rivers State.

But, when contacted on telephone Thursday, a stalwart of the PDP in Rivers State and former Commissioner for Information in the state, Emma Okah, said it was only natural for the minister to resign his appointment at the appropriate time.

 “Following the calls by many ethnic groups, communities and individuals in Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike should offer himself for the 2015 governorship election.

“People of the state love him and that is why they are calling on him to come out and serve them”, Okah said.

According to him, “if those calls are genuine and they are positive, it means he has to offer himself for the assignment.

“This therefore means that if he was working, then he will naturally need to resign at the appointed time. The minister has the discretion to resign and contest, if he wishes”.