Relief may have come the way of the pro-Wike 27 lawmakers as the Supreme Court dismissed the suit by Rivers state Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
By that decision, the earlier ruling by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal which recognised Hon. Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, and 24 others as valid members of the Assembly, remains.
…The dismissed suit
The dismissal of the suit Monday followed the dramatic withdrawal of the appeal by Fubara through his lead counsel, Yusuf Ali, SAN.
In the controversial suit, the state governor had sought to remove 27 members of the State House of Assembly on the ground of their alleged defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But while ruling on the matter on Monday, the apex court presided over by Musa Uwani-Aba-Aji, dismissed the suit.
Governor Fubara, in the notice for withdrawal of the case, informed a 3-man panel of Justices of the Court that events had overtaken his suit and that the lawmakers were their friends.
The request for the withdrawal of the contentious suit was not opposed by Rivers State House of Assembly and its Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, who were represented by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN.
Olanipekun, however, demanded for outright dismissal of the suit on the premise that parties had filed and exchanged their brief of arguments and, thus, joined issues with each other.
He argued further that the proper order to be made in the circumstances is the dismissal of the case, which the court agreed with.
Parties at that point did not raise any objection, which made the apex court dismissed it and awarded N4 million against Fubara to be paid to the House of Assembly and Amaewhule.
…Coast now clear for 27 lawmakers – SAN
Addressing newsmen shortly after the dismissal of the suit, Ken Njemanze, SAN, said the coast is finally clear for the 27 lawmakers to fully take over the House of Assembly.
The senior advocate explained further that all steps taken by Fubara in the absence of the 27 lawmakers, including presentation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets to only 3 lawmakers among others, became a nullity.
…The legal war
The Abuja Division of the Appeal Court, had July 5, 2024, vacated an order of a Rivers State High Court, saying the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear and decide the issue of alleged defection.
The lower court had, it its ruling, ordered Amaewhule from parading himself as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, and also restrained 24 other members of the Assembly from accessing the complex or carrying out any such legislative assignment in the name of the state legislature.
But Amaewhule and the other lawmakers headed for the appeal court to void the restraining order, saying the issue the trial court ventured into was the exclusive preserve of a Federal High Court.
They cited Section 272(3) of the Constitution in urging the appellate court to reverse their removal from the Rivers State House of Assembly, on account of their defection to the APC.
And in his judgement, a three-man panel led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada, held that the appeal was meritorious and subsequently ordered their reinstatement as lawmakers.
…Budget fracas
Similarly, the Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice James Omotosho on January 22, 2024, nullified the passage of Rivers State’s N800 billion 2024 budget by four members of the House of Assembly.
The court had described the bill’s passage by the four lawmakers, led by Hon. Ehie Edison, as an aberration and illegality.
It consequently ordered Governor Fubara to re-present the budget to the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly.
The suit filed by the 27 members of the Assembly loyal to former governor of the state and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, filed the suit which, got the blessings of the lower court.
Listed as defendants of the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1613/2023 are the National Assembly, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Clerk to the National Assembly.
Others include Governor Fubara, Hon. Edison, the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
Justice Omotosho had while ruling on an ex-parte motion by the 27 legislators issued an interim order restraining Fubara and his agents from obstructing the pro-Wike legislators from carrying out their constitutional duties.
He also restrained the governor from removing/redeploying the Clerk of the Assembly and withholding funds meant for the Assembly, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
But, while the order subsisted, Governor Fubara presented the budget that the four lawmakers loyal to him passed.
The governor, who withheld the funds for legislative functions, also demolished a part of the Assembly complex, a move believed to have been done to prevent the pro-Wike legislators from sitting.
In his judgment, Justice Omotosho had held that the four lawmakers’ passage of the budget and other actions taken while the 30 November 2023 order subsisted amounted to a nullity.
He said the governor acted like a tyrant in the manner the Assembly complex was partially demolished and funds for legislative activities withheld.
The judge had issued an order restraining Fubara from frustrating the Amaewhule-led assembly from sitting or interfering in its activities.
He also described as unlawful Governor Fubara’s redeployment of the Clerk and Deputy Clerk out of the Assembly, stating that the action amounted to an affront on separation of power.
The judge ordered the Clerk and the Deputy Clerk to resume the office immediately and unhindered.
Apart from also asking Fubara to promptly release all monies standing to the credit of the Assembly, he also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to immediately deploy his operatives to the Assembly complex.
The judge had also barred the National Assembly from taking over the Assembly or accepting or treating any request by Governor Fubara on any matter affecting the state legislature.
…Judgement not against Fubara – RVSG
In a reaction, the Rivers State Government said the apex court’s ruling was not in any way, against the governor.
It said the governor remained unfazed by the judgment, adding that the 2024 budget cycle ended on December 31, 2024, rendering the appeal unnecessary.
In a statement released Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, it said: “The appeal is of no useful purpose. The only reasonable thing left to do was to withdraw the appeal and have it dismissed.”
“The Supreme Court is a very busy court. It would be unwise to burden the Honourable Court with academic appeals that hold no practical or utilitarian value. That is the appeal the urchins are celebrating.
“There is no Supreme Court judgment against Governor Fubara. Ignore the outdated political propaganda by some desperate politicians,” Johnson added.
The statement clarified that the Supreme Court only ruled on the governor’s voluntary withdrawal of the appeal, which became irrelevant following the full implementation of the 2024 budget.
….Supreme Court reserves judgment in 4 appeals
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has reserved judgment in four separate appeals on the raging political leadership tussles in Rivers state.
Justice Uwani Aba-Aji, who led a five-member panel of justices reserved judgments to a date that would be communicated to parties, after taking arguments from lawyers involved in the matters.
The four appeals are the Rivers House of Assembly and others against the Rivers Government and nine others.
The second case is between the Rivers House of Assembly and others against Gov. Siminalayi Fubara and nine others.
The third case is between the Rivers House of Assembly and others against the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and nine others.
The fourth matter is between the Rivers State House of Assembly and others against the Accountant General of Rivers and nine others.
The cases are in respect of some judgments delivered by the Federal High Court in Abuja which prohibited the release of monthly fund to Rives from the Federation Account and another that barred INEC from releasing voter register to the state government for the purpose of conducting local government election among others.
It will be recalled that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the stoppage of the release of allocations from the federal government to the state until the governor presented the budget before the Amaewhule-led House of Assembly members.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upturned the judgment on grounds of grave injustice in the findings and decisions.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal, in another judgment, upturned the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu, also of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had ruled against the conduct of the Oct. 5, 2024, local government council election in Rivers on the grounds that due process of Rivers State laws on local government elections had not been followed.
At Monday’s sitting, Joseph Daudu, SAN represented the camp loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT Nyesom Wike while Chris Uche SAN led the camp of Fubara. (NAN)