The Rivers State Government has firmly stated that the recent Appeal Court judgment in Abuja did not reinstate the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the State House of Assembly.
According to the government, the seats of Amaewhule and 26 others became automatically vacant on December 11, 2023, the day they defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement issued by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, the government clarified that the defection led to the automatic vacation of their seats.
“By operation of Law, particularly Section 109(i)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Martin Amaewhule and 26 others automatically lost their seats as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 11th day of December, 2023,” Iboroma stated.
The Attorney General emphasized that the issue of defection was never before the Federal High Court or the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
“No court has legitimized their membership of the House of Assembly on the basis of the defection,” he insisted.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, dissatisfied with the judgment of the Court of Appeal, has directed his lawyers to file an appeal to the Supreme Court and an application for a stay of execution of the judgment.
“Following the crisis in the Rivers State House of Assembly and the intervention by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency the Governor of Rivers State obeyed the President’s directive and withdrew his cases. Martin Amaewhule and others disobeyed the President and proceeded to obtain judgment against His Excellency,” Iboroma added.
The government also highlighted that the 2024 Appropriation Bill was presented by Governor Fubara to the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, who was recognized as the Speaker at the time. The bill was passed into law and became the Appropriation Law of 2024.
Iboroma asserted”There is a gale of misrepresentation and misinterpretation that Martin Amaewhule & 26 others remain members of the Rivers State House of Assembly with Martin Amaewhule as the speaker thereof. This is patently false.”
The defection of Amaewhule and 26 others was not an issue for determination in the courts, he reiterated.
