Abuja – December 13, 2023 – Viewpoint Housing News.
The Rivers state house of Assembly complex is currently under demolition.
The Complex was demolished amid tight security about two months after fire gutted the complex.
The demolition exercise started at about 6:45am with the state governor leading a convoy consisting of about 10 bulldozers carried on heavy-duty flatbed lorries into the Assembly premises.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government said the renovation of the State House of Assembly Complex was carried out on the advice of consultants, who warned that the building is no longer habitable.
The government said the advice to demolish and restructure the building was predicated on the recent fire that engulfed the allowed chambers and the need to strengthen the long existing complex.
The Commissioner for Information, Joe Johnson, stated this on the sidelines of the presentation of the 2024 budget at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
He said the government hopes to give the renovation accelerated hearing.
This was as Governor Siminalayi Fubara presented the N800bn 2024 budget estimates to the Edison Ehie-led group at the Government House the same moment the demolition was carried out.
Ehie and Martins Amaewhule have been embroiled in a Speakership tussle which is in court.
The presentation of the budget was held at a hall in the Government House, apparently, due to the “renovation” work at the state assembly complex which started Wednesday morning.
This is coming barely 24 hours after a Rivers State High Court recognised Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s loyalist, Ehie as the Speaker of the House pending the determination of the substantial suit before it.
On Monday, the strained relationship between former Governor Nyesome Wike and Fubara worsened when 27 lawmakers in the state Assembly loyal to Wike out of 32 defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
