Rivers State House of Assembly has asked Celestine Omehia to refund about N600m benefits he received from the State as a former governor.
This is as 21 out of the 32 assembly members voted for the derecognition of Omehia as a former governor.
The assembly also ordered him to return about N97m he had so far received as a pension to the treasury of the State.
Omehia’s derecognition follows a motion moved by Martins Amaewhule, the member representing the Obio-Akpor constituency.
Amaewhule who is also the leader of the house in motion urged Governor Nyesom Wike to derecognise Omehia as a former governor of the state.
The motion also urged the state government to terminate all benefits, privileges and entitlements accrued to Omehia.
Others include a directive to Omehia to stop addressing himself as “His Excellency” and stop suffixing the Grand Service Star of Rivers State (GSSRS) which is only applicable to former governors to his name.
The motion also sought to retrieve within seven days, the sum of N600,000 million which was the sum of benefits and entitlements and another 96 million which is the sum of pension to the government’s treasury.
Omehia was removed by the Supreme Court in October 2007. The Apex Court ordered the swearing-in of Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.
Upon assuming office in 2015, governor Wike in a bid to shore up his political base, recognised Omehia as a former governor.
However, they fell out earlier this year after Omehia and other chieftains of the Peoples Democratic party, PDP in the state threw their weight behind the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar.
