…clarifies Appeal Court ruling
The Rivers State Government has clarified that the recent Court of Appeal judgment in Abuja does not reinstate the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the State House of Assembly, dismissing claims that they remain members of the Assembly.
In a statement released on Thursday by State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Israel Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, the government affirmed that Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers automatically vacated their seats when they defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023. According to Iboroma, this defection triggered Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that lawmakers who switch political parties lose their seats.
Iboroma emphasized, “The issue of defection of Martin Amaewhule and 26 others was never before the Federal High Court or the Court of Appeal. Therefore, no court has legitimized their membership of the House of Assembly following their defection.”
The Attorney General further clarified that the Federal High Court case and the subsequent appeal were focused on the 2023 Appropriation Law and the National Assembly’s intervention in Rivers State’s legislative functions, not on the status of the defected lawmakers.
Following the dismissal of the state’s appeal regarding the 2023 Appropriation Law by the Court of Appeal, Iboroma criticized the misrepresentation of the ruling. “There is a wave of false reports suggesting that Amaewhule and the others remain in the Assembly with him as Speaker. This is patently untrue,” he stated.
Additionally, Iboroma announced that the state government plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court and will file an application for a stay of execution to maintain the current status quo.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara has urged the people of Rivers State to disregard any misleading reports regarding the court’s judgment, assuring them that legal steps are being taken to resolve the matter.
