THE Rivers State Government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Dagogo Iboroma (SAN), said the recent court judgment did not declare Martin Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers, who were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), at the peak of the political crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his estranged political godfather, Mr. Nyesom Wike.
The Assembly became factionalised following a failed attempt by the pro-Wike lawmakers to impeach Fubara in October last year.
Recall that on Monday, June 10, a Rivers State High Court, presided over by Justice Okogbule Gbasam, reportedly ruled the claimant in a suit before it failed to prove that Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers had defected to the APC.
Justice Gbasam also ruled that defection cannot be established through newspaper publications, radio announcements or online publications, and that consequently, the Rivers State Government was bound to obey all laws passed by the Assembly, as the said lawmakers were still members of the PDP, as their names were still in the party’s membership register provided by it.
But reacting to the ruling, Iboroma said that there was no declaration to the effect that said lawmakers were members of PDP and the Rivers State House of Assembly, saying the information is meant to deceive the public.
Speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, he urged the public to disregard such news, emphasising that it was not true and has no basis in law, adding that as the 3rd defendant in the matter, registered in Suit No. DHC/20/CS/2024, his attention was drawn to the judgment to that effect, insisting that the suit in question did not seek to declare the seats of Amaewhule and 26 others in Rivers State House of Assembly vacant.
He stressed: “The suit of the claimants was struck out for want of locus standi and jurisdiction and also for being an abuse of court process, which robbed the trial court of jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.
“As you all know, Martins Amaewhule and 26 others defected from the PDP to the APC on December 11, 2023, and stated that much in affidavit evidence deposed to by Martins Amaewhule for himself and on behalf of 26 others in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/1681/CS/2023 before Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division. The suit is still pending in court.
“By Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, it is only the Federal High Court that can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still members of PDP and also members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This much was held by the trial court.
“There is a subsisting order of interlocutory injunction in Suit No. PHC/1512/CS/2024, restraining Martins Amaewhule and his co-travellers from further parading or presenting themselves as lawmakers in Rivers State, pending the determination of the substantive suit, which has not been appealed against till date.”
