As A’Court Resolves Rivers Political Crisis

As the Court of Appeal prepares to deliver judgment on the political crisis in Rivers State, Nigerians are looking forward to objective and substantial ruling that can bring an end to the lingering disputes, Davidson Iriekpen writes

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t is no longer news that the Special Court of Appeal Panel set up to adjudicate on the political cases in Rivers State has reserved judgment in the consolidated appeals arising from the judgments of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, Justice Hamma Barka reserved the judgments after hearing arguments from parties and their addresses adopted by counsel. Already, the indigenes of the state and Nigerians at large are waiting with bated breath and anxiety.

But the question bothering the people of Rivers State and Nigerians generally is: How exactly will the court resolve the case to ensure that there is peace in the state? Specifically, they want to know how the appellate court will resolve the issues on the defections of the 27 members of the state House of Assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is at the root of the dispute.

After the failed attempt to impeach Governor Similnalayi Fubara, President Bola Tinubu had brokered peace in the state. As part of the agreement reached, Governor Fubara and the Martin Amaewhule faction of the State Assembly were to withdraw all their cases pending in court.

However, Fubara’s loyalists alleged that while the governor withdrew his suits, the Amaewhule faction refused to follow suit, resulting in a multiplicity of judgments in their favour against the governor. Their actions, according to the governor’s loyalists, led the governor to believe that he was ambushed.

Following the defection of the 27 lawmakers, the Edison Ehie-led faction of the state House of Assembly emerged and declared the seats of the defected 27 members vacant. It later called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately conduct elections to fill their seats.

Since then, Victor Oko-Jumbo, who later succeeded Ehie as the speaker of the four-member PDP-led state assembly, has been calling on INEC to fill the seats of the defected lawmakers.

It was against this background that Amaewhule went to court, and on January 22,  and Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja affirmed him as the speaker of the assembly despite their defection.

The judge then nullified the 2024 Rivers State budget on the grounds that it was not presented before members of the state assembly as required by law. 

It was also as a result of this that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court in Abuja delivered a judgement on October 30, stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from further releasing monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State Government. The court held that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January this year by Governor Fubara is a constitutional somersault and aberration that must not be allowed to continue.

Justice Abdulmalik held that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member state assembly was an affront to the constitutional provision. The judge specifically held that Fubara’s action in implementing unlawful budget smacked gross violations of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect and consequently restrained the apex bank, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank and Access Bank from further allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.

He also stated that the actions of the four members of the State Assembly, now led by Oko-Ojombo had already been nullified by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

According to the judge, the Rivers State High Court’s ruling, which empowered the governor to implement the 2024 budget, had also been overturned by the Court of Appeal. She added that the Appropriation Bill for January to December 2024, currently being operated by the governor, is illegal and a violation of the 1999 Constitution, as it was not passed by the lawful House of Assembly.

The defection of Amaewhule and the other lawmakers who are loyalists of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, was celebrated with fanfare in the state.

In a letter read by his deputy, Dumle Maol, Amaewhule had openly announced their defections, predicating on the division within the PDP. 

Also, in a Witness Statement on Oath, he filed and deposed to in their suit marked PHC/21 771/CS/12024 against INEC, PDP, the Rivers State House of Assembly, Clerk of Rivers State House of Assembly, Inspector General of Police, and the Department of State Services (DSS), he clearly admitted that the 27 state legislators defected from the PDP.

For instance, Section 109 (1G) of the 1999 Constitution states: “A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”

The subsection goes further to state: “Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one in which he was previously sponsored.”

Specifically, in a 22-paragraph Witness Statement on Oath dated May 15, 2024, Amaewhule stated that faced with the state of uncertainty and confusion in the PDP (2nd defendant) caused by the division in the political party,” we were constrained to defect and joined the APC on the 11th December 2023.”

He further stated: “I am aware that the plaintiffs were duly elected to represent their various state constituencies at the Rivers State House of Assembly on the platform of the PDP and had remained members of the PDP until 11th December 2023 when they (plaintiffs) left PDP and joined the APC as a result of division and fractionalisation in the leadership of the PDP.”

“That the 2nd defendant has been threatening to ensure that our seats at the Rivers State House of Assembly be declared vacated by any means whether lawful or unlawful.

“That unless this honourable court intervenes, the defendants will unlawfully declare our seats vacant, withdraw our Certificates of Return and prevent us from carrying out our constitutional duties and functions as honourable members of the 3rd defendant.”

 The Court of Appeal cannot claim that the issue of the defection of the 27 assembly members is not before them when both the assembly’s proceedings on December 11, 2023 and the affidavit submitted in court clearly indicate their defection.

Nigerians are optimistic that the Court of Appeal will address this issue with objective and substantial justice, in order to bring peace to the state. Anything outside of this would mean that the state government would have to proceed to lower court to begin the case afresh.