The attention of the Rivers Caucus in the House of Representatives has been drawn to yet another unfortunate and misleading press briefing by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere on Tuesday 18th, on the ongoing disagreement between the governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly, and latterly, Local Government Chairmen.
Since the disagreement, Hon. Ugochinyere has thrown caution, decorum and responsible conduct – expected of the high office he now occupies – to the wind. He has, instead, put himself forward as a veritable tool and an agent provocateur for a cause he knows nothing about and for no other reason except to feather his nest.
His latest sponsored intervention is laden with the all ingredients that characterised all his previous outings: blackmail, half-truths, outright lies, misinformation and disinformation, and malicious propaganda.
In every instance, his prejudicial media statements also constitute a thoughtless assault on due process and ongoing judicial processes aimed at resolving the disagreement in Rivers. As our colleague who sits in the House of Representatives today courtesy of a judgment of a court, that is beyond embarrassing.
As a Caucus we consider Hon. Ugochinyere an insignificant twerp in the social space and, particularly, in the grand scheme of Rivers politics. To begin with, he is not from Rivers State. So his political value is unquestionably non-existent, except to those who are naive enough to fall for his cheap gimmicks.
Secondly, we had put Hon. Ugochinyere’s deplorable behaviour down to exuberant infatilism, which sometimes affects some new members, and had hoped that his apparent lack of understanding of his duties as a federal lawmaker would diminish as he grows into his new position.
Obviously, we were wrong. One year into his term as a lawmaker, Hon. Ugochinyere has rather doubled down on infamy, dishonour and disreputable behaviour details of which we have at our disposal.
The current situation in Rivers State does not concern Hon. Ugochinyere in any way because he is from Imo State; a state that is grappling with myriad political and social issues of its own in respect of which Hon. Ugochinyere cannot find his voice. The disagreement in Rivers has never been brought to the floor of the House of Representatives to warrant other members’ intervention in a debate.
Unarguably, Hon. Ugochinyere’s actions (in the guise of representation) outside of the House impinge on the privileges of members of this Caucus, the integrity of the House itself, and constitute a reckless violation of the constitution vide sections 49 and 72.
Consequently, we hereby publicly call on the leadership of the House of Representatives to take urgent steps to discipline and rein in this errant member.
Signed
Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Dekor, DSSRS, FNES, KJW
(Chairman, Rivers Caucus, House of Representatives)
