Gov Fubara’s camp silent as APC hails Appeal Court judgment on Rivers Assembly Crisis

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha has hailed the appeal Court judgment which vacated the order which sacked the 25 Rivers lawmakers loyal to former governor of the state, and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Justice Charles Wali of a Rivers State High Court had on May 10, 2023 issued an interim injunction restraining the pro-Wike lawmakers led by Hon. Martin Amaehwule from parading themselves as members of the Assembly, having decamped from the political party that sponsored their elections, PDP to the APC.
The court order followed a suit filed by factional Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo and others loyal to the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, who contended that Amaewhule and the 24 other lawmakers who defected to the APC ceased to be members of the Assembly since December 13, 2023, when their seats were declared vacant by the then Speaker, Hon. Edison Ehie, who later resigned and was later appointed Chief of Staff to Governor Fubara.
The High Court granted their prayers and barred the pro-Wike lawmakers from accessing the Assembly complex or carrying out any legislative assignment in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Amaewhule and his colleagues approached the Appeal Court to set it aside, as they argued that the state high court acted beyond its jurisdiction when it issued the restraining order against them.
They urged the court to invalidate all the legislative actions of the Jumbo-led Rivers State House of Assembly.
Delivering judgement on the suit on Thursday, a three-man panel of Justices of an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja, vacated the order that sacked the 25 Pro-Wike Rivers Assembly lawmakers, declaring that the Rivers State High Court, which issued the order, lacked the requisite jurisdiction to do so and upheld the appeal that was lodged before it by the embattled lawmakers who were led by Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule.
Reacting to the Appeal Court judgement, the Rivers APC Chairman, Tony Okocha said, “I don’t know of any sweeter moment than this because the Court of Appeal judgment has come to settle gray areas in our society.
“I had always said that the state was sitting on a keg of gunpowder and that at some point it was a regime of supermarket orders.
The court of appeal said that the order sought to be made or made by the Justice C. N Wali was a nullity.
“The Court of Appeal said it did not follow the principles of fair hearing. So all of those are thrown into the thrash can. It consolidated all issues and dealt with them one by one.
“At the end of the day, as meticulous as they are I commend their industry. It is a perfect reasoning that they have espoused. The worst any other person can do is to see whether they can approach the supreme Court and I do not know how the supreme Court will say that a judge that has no jurisdiction over a matter and assumed jurisdiction that the court is right.
“I think the Court of Appeal should recommend that judge for scrutiny by the NJC, so that some of them will learn their lessons. He knew, it was deliberate, it was pecuniary interest that must have led him.
So all matters, Omotosho, CN Wali are all dead. The only matter alive today is that of the Court of Appeal which said that the status quo should remain. But the status quo, so that we are also careful not to allow several individuals who now masquerade as pocket lawyers to give their own interpretation based on their divide. “The court said the status quo before the matter was at all instituted in any court. So what is the implementation, that Martin Amaewhule is the Speaker and that Martin has all the powers. And from all that they said it means that all the actions taken by the so called 3-member assembly who were even on suspension before this time. The speaker, the deputy speaker and the Deputy leader 3 members.
“All the actions they had gotten involved in, they are nullified ; the Commissioners they screened, the so called attorney general,” he said.
Meanwhile, the camp of the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara as at the time of filling this report has maintained mute in the state as they are yet to react to the Appeal Court judgment.