June 16, (THEWILL)- The Martins Amaewhule-led 25 Rivers State lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, during the heated supremacy battle between ex-Governor Nyesom Wike and his successor, Siminalayi Fubari, had sometime ago threatened to impeach the governor after serially obtaining court injunctions to either annul the passage of the N800 billion budget or amend the local government law and give the Speaker powers to appoint officials of the House of Assembly Service Commission.
Not anymore. The tables have turned and the future seems bleak for them. At least for now that Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has been able to secure federal appointment for only one of his political supporters, Chukwemeka Woke, (one of those Commissioners who resigned in a huff from Fubara’s cabinet), who was recently appointed by President Bola Tinubu as Managing Director of Ogun-Osun River Basin Authority.
Two judgements delivered last week not only weakened their stand as the laws were reversed and restored the governors’ powers but also dealt a severe blow to the status of the 25 lawmakers.
The first law was the amended Section 3 of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law, which striped Governor Fubara of the constitutional power to appoint the Chairman and Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission. The Amaewhule-led Assembly had passed the law to confer on him, the Speaker, the powers to make the appointment.
A Rivers State High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt last Tuesday, however, nullified the law. While delivering judgment on the suit filed by a Non-Governmental organisation, Association of Legal Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, Justice Kariba Dagogo Jack said the amended law number 3, 2024, was inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution and as a result, it was null and void.
The Judge held that the Constitution unambiguously empowered Governor Fubara to constitute the House of Assembly Service Commission and some other commissions, boards and Institutes, but confirmed by the Assembly.
The power to constitute the House of Assembly Service Commission to the Speaker, said Justice Dagogo-Jack, contravened the doctrine of separation of powers which guarantees the right of the various arms of government to operate independently of each other.
The presiding Judge further declared that the Rivers State House of Assembly is not authorised by law to exercise executive powers, which includes the constitution of the Rivers State House of Assembly Commission, which is among bodies described in part 2 of the 3rd schedule of the Constitution whose membership are to be constituted by the governor.
Similarly, a Rivers State High Court judgement, which appeared to have given a life line to the embattled by declaring that 25 lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly were still members of the PDP, went up in smoke when it was subjected to further legal interpretation.
The presiding judge, Okogbule Gbasam, in a ruling filed by Wosa Amadi and three others seeking to declare the seats of the 27 lawmakers vacant, following their defection to the All Progressives Congress in December 2003, ruled that the claimants failed to prove to the court that the 27 lawmakers truly defected to the APC, noting that the said defection cannot be established through newspaper publications, radio announcements or online publications.
According to the court, a defection can only be established through the party membership register, a membership card and such members fulfilling all requirements of their membership in the party.
Miffed by the reportorial interpretation of the ruling, Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Dagogo Israel Iboroma, cried foul.
He described the report on the court ruling as false and misleading.
Arguing that Justice Gbasam struck out the suit for want of locus standi and jurisdiction, as well as abuse of court process, Iboroma clarified that the suit did not seek to declare the seats of the defected lawmakers vacant.
“As Hon. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice and 3rd defendant in SUIT NO DHC/20/CS/2024, I can say the suit did not seek to declare the seat of Martins Amaewhule and 26 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant. And so, it 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.”
According to him, a Rivers State High Court, presided over by Justice Charles N. Wali, in a ruling, delivered on May 10 and 30, 2024 granted an order restraining Amaewhule and the 24 other Pro-Wike lawmakers from sitting and parading themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
On Friday, the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal issued an order urging the two parties in the Rivers State House of Assembly to maintain the status quo and suspend further actions until the determination of an appeal before it.
The order followed an appeal filed by 25 defected Rivers Assembly pro-Wike lawmakers led by Martin Amaewhule against the ruling of a Rivers State High Court presided over by Justice Charles N. Wali, delivered on May 10 and 30, which granted an order restraining them from sitting and parading themselves as members of the Assembly.
THEWILL learnt that since the embattled lawmakers realised the constitutional blunders caused by their defection and the overwhelming public support that has swung in favour of the governor and against Wike, they have been making secret moves through political players in the state “get a soft landing,” according to a government source. Unfortunately for them, none is willing to publicly make their case heard, fearing a backlash.
THEWILL recalls that recently, some Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, said that the defected lawmakers stood to lose their seats,following extant court cases on defection.
One of the lawyers, Femi Falana, SAN, said the 25 lawmakers who had threatened to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara, were either not properly guided or advised.
He said, “The matter is in court. A couple of days ago, the High Court sitting in Port Harcourt granted an order of injunction restraining the 25 lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly on the grounds that they had decamped and thereby for now, have forfeited their rights to be legislators.
He said that unless the lawmakers can show or demonstrate that there is a division in their political party that sponsored their election, they cannot remain in any legislative house if they defected to another party.
To buttress his point, he quoted the Supreme Court case of Adegbule vs Labour Party, whereby no lawmaker can decide on his or her own that there is a division in a party, not just a division in a local government or in a state. It has to be a division down the line, including the national level.
“However, it may be very difficult to persuade the court to allow them to remain in the legislative house unless they are prepared to go back to the people and have their mandate renewed by the people. That is the provision of the law,” Falana concluded.
This renewal of mandate is what the PDP wants and has gone to court to retrieve its mandate.
According to its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party is not facing pressure from any quarter to compromise its position in court, where it has clearly stated that the lawmakers ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly since December 11, 2023, when they publicly announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.
He said the affected members have since lost their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly, having arrogantly committed an unpardonable constitutional breach.
On the legal path to retrieve its mandate, he said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP in its Counter Claim by its National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade SAN in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023 filed at the Federal High Court Abuja stated clearly that the former Rivers State lawmakers “are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from December 11, 2023 when they publicly announced their defection from the PDP to the APC.”
In the said suit, the PDP seeks, among other things, the following declaration/orders against the former Rivers State lawmakers: “A Declaration that by provisions of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the seats of the plaintiffs have been vacant since December 11, 2023 when the plaintiffs announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“A Declaration that the plaintiffs are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, having defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 11th December 2023.
“An Order directing the first defendant (INEC) to conduct bye-elections in the respective constituencies of the plaintiffs in compliance with the provisions of the laws.”
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
