₦airaland Forum

MrUchenna1:
THE TIME WILL COME WHEN COURT JUDGEMENTS WILL BE IRRELEVANT....ANYMORE

Alliswell248:
Is Tinubu crying Ebin pawa like the people in your region?

He is the C in C.

Tektronics12:
He can Afford it any fuel. Can you Afford it?. Stop Comparing someone in position of God and you the Subject.

Eniitankorede:
Yes i dont live in your planet of ignorance. If you have been in leadership you will understand. Nigerians are corrupt. Custom officers are corrupt. No money to build high walls across all our borders. Petrol will always be smuggled no matter the amount of subsidy as long as there is price differentials and the customs are corrupt without any border walls. And petrol scarcity will always persist because all the petrol for local consumption will always find their way through the borders. Now use your brain to fond a workable solution. Don’t give me idealistic answer.

Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party, nPDP, and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has told the 27 stranded lawmakers that they have ceased to be State Assembly members.


Eze, in a press statement circulated to media organisations on Friday, highlighted that the protracted crisis rocking Rivers State over the leadership of the House of Assembly has continued unabated as a result of actions of some politicians in the State who are hell-bent on using the judiciary to show power and might.

DAILY POST reports that the latest in the series of decisions from the Judiciary is the judgment of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, delivered on Thursday, which dismissed an appeal marked: CA/ABJ/133/CS/2024, filed by the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara, challenging the judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, delivered on January 22, 2024.

Justice Omotosho had, while delivering judgment on a Motion on Notice marked FHC/ABJ/133/CS/2023, filed on the 29th November, 2023, by the Rivers State House of Assembly, and Martin Amaewhule (1st and 2nd Plaintiffs respectively), nullified the 2024 Rivers State Budget passed by the pro-Fubara lawmakers following the decamping of 27 PDP lawmakers to the APC.

The court also set aside the presentation and passage of the budget, just as it ordered Governor Fubara to re-present the budget to the House of Assembly under Amaewhule and 26 other PDP lawmakers who had defected to the APC.

Among others, Justice Omotosho ordered Governor Fubara to release all funds accruable to the Rivers State House of Assembly, and also barred the governor from interfering with the activities of the Assembly.


Reacting, Eze noted that the defection on the 11th of December, 2023, by Martin Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers from PDP that sponsored their election in the 2023 Legislative Assembly Election, to the APC was not an issue in the instant suit decided by Justice Omotosho on January 22, 2024.

The APC chieftain also wants Nigerians to understand that during the pendency of the suit, and considering the worsening political altercation between the 27 lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and Governor Fubara, President Bola Tinubu had called for a truce.

Fubara heeded to the directive of President Tinubu that warring parties withdraw their cases in court to pave the way for amicable resolution of the crisis and to allow peace reign in the Rivers State.


However, Martin Amaewhule and the 26 defected lawmakers did not withdraw suit No. FHC/ABJ/1613/CS/2023, and proceeded to obtain judgment against the Governor of Rivers State.

“At this point, it has become imperative to state from a legal standpoint that by the provision of Section 109(i) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Martin Amaewhule and 26 other Lawmakers having defected, automatically lost their seats as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 11th day of December, 2023, as Section 109(1)(g) is self executory as no court order is required thereof.

“Nevertheless, in view of the judgment of Justice Joseph Oyewole led 3-man panel of the Court of Appeal on October 10, 2024, it is of paramount importance to quash the gale of misrepresentation and misinterpretation that Amaewhule & 26 other defected Lawmakers remain members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.


“I make bold to state in the strongest term that the appellate court did not adjudicate on the legitimacy or otherwise of the defection of the embattled lawmakers. In this regard, the fact remains that Martins AMAEWHULE and his co-Travellers have ceased to be Lawmakers and Fubara will not grant them any legality by representing any Budget before them.

“So those celebrating should go ahead to celebrate on an issue that was dead on arrival as the plot to plunge Rivers State into darkness will not be accomplished,” Eze explained.

While advising the Rivers State Government to appeal against the judgement of the appellate court, Eze equally “appealed to the Judiciary to be circumspect of deft moves by self serving politicians to drag the judiciary into the mud.

“I urge the courts to ensure they deliver sound and time tested judgments devoid of technicalities, as well as stop every plot that will derail and expose the country’s fledgling democracy to public opprobrium.

“Governor Fubara must stand firm and not yield to intimidation, betrayal or judicial harassment from Wike and his adversaries.

“There will be daring consequences if Rivers people and Nigerians in general fail at this period to wrestle Rivers State from the firm grip of Wike.

“Let me state without mincing words that President Bola Tinubu is duty bound to ensure that Rivers State is not allowed to be destabilized due one man’s dictatorial tendencies.

“By withdrawing his counter affidavits and processes filed in the suit, Governor Fubara did not make any mistake in obeying the directive of President Tinubu.

“Or is President Tinubu’s directive mischievous and deceptive as Fubara’s withdrawal of court processes earlier filed, formed the basis upon which the appellate panel dismissed the suit?

“The plot to set Rivers State on fire or attempt to impeach the Governor will be resisted.

“I urge people of the State, particularly, loyalists of governor Fubara to be calm and go about their normal duties as the suit bordering on defection of the 27 lawmakers is still pending in court,” he added.

Okpebholo1:
The court which interprets the constitution has already recognized the Amaewhule faction. It is people like you that misled obi in court...can you even prove that they defected?

Okpebholo1:
True but only the court can give effect to that not you or I. When saraki and others defected, where they removed? The only defected lawmakers that was sacked was in 2019 by the supreme court.

Okpebholo1:
Who declared their seats vacant? You or the governor. By now, you should know how politics and law works, leave emotions. Only a federal court can declare their seats vacant
The appeal court clearly said the governor should represent the budget to martins Amaewhule which means in the eyes of the law, he remains speaker

iwaeda:
Are you whinning us. It will be converted at Garki, Abuja.

Kukutenla:

This Op like vawulence
Even the bot above shock

alimiadedayo1:
It was later i understand that not all people that are mad are mentally stable, my brother there are human being her on nairaland that are mentally unstable. Imagine what a human being with heart and brain saying and what pain me most about these people is that they will always find a way to justify Government ineptitude action against the masses. Is it a crime to be a Nigerian

Okpebholo1:
Before then, they will impeach the governor

Okpebholo1:
Pdp has no chance in Ondo even if the REC is a pdp member

Eniitankorede:
I know that government could have made the price cheaper through pegging an exchange rate for sale to local refineries or selling crude cheaper locally. But they wouldn’t do it because they want to stop smuggling of refined petrol to neighbouring countries. There is no way petrol will be smuggled at 1200/litre to neighbouring countries. It is just not profitable. But government must do something quickly before they cause class suicide due to hunger and poverty. They must not also underrate the propensity to cause social unrest and revolution. They must do something quickly to reduce the pain on the people.

blacknp:
Fickle minded disillusioned Agbadorian, na with mouth person dey defect abi? For your info, defection/cross carpeting na by registration not by cheap talk, because you talk say you be Labor Party councilor, doesn’t make it true.

blacknp:
Wail on as usual.

yyba:
when did he decamp to APC? Just simple question oo