The Rivers State Government has come out swinging, debunking widespread rumors that the Appeal Court in Abuja has reinstated the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the State House of Assembly. In a no-holds-barred statement on Thursday October 10, 2024, the government, through its Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Israel Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, insisted that such claims are not just baseless but patently false.
The Attorney General emphasized that the Appeal Court ruling in question, delivered on October 10, 2024, has nothing to do with the alleged reinstatement of Martin Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) last year. Iboroma clarified that Amaewhule and the others had lost their seats automatically on December 11, 2023, the moment they switched parties, as per the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.
“The Appeal Court judgment today did not in any way reinstate the Amaewhule-led faction,” Iboroma declared. “Their seats became automatically vacant from the moment they defected from the PDP to the APC, as stipulated by Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution. No court has legitimized their defection or restored them to the House of Assembly.”
The tension within the Rivers State House of Assembly began last year after a failed attempt to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara in October 2023. The fallout resulted in a polarized Assembly, with the Amaewhule faction filing a suit against the governor at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Despite this legal battle, Amaewhule and his allies defected to the APC on December 11, 2023, sealing their political fate, according to the Attorney General.
Iboroma elaborated, “Following their defection, His Excellency, the Governor, presented the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, who was recognized as the Speaker. This Bill was passed into law, and it is this 2024 Appropriation Law, as well as the National Assembly's intervention in the Rivers State House crisis, that was before the Court of Appeal today.”
The Attorney General minced no words, labeling the current wave of misinformation as the handiwork of mischief-makers. “There has been a gale of misrepresentation and misinterpretation suggesting that Martin Amaewhule and his group remain members of the Assembly, with Amaewhule as Speaker. This is patently false and a deliberate attempt to mislead the public,” he said.
Governor Fubara’s administration is not sitting idly by as these rumors circulate. The Rivers State Government announced that it would be taking the matter to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the Appeal Court’s judgment and maintain the status quo until a final ruling is made. Iboroma confirmed that the governor has instructed his legal team to file an appeal and seek a stay of execution on the ruling.
The statement further urged the people of Rivers State to disregard the false claims and trust the government's efforts to resolve the issue in court. “The defection of Martin Amaewhule and 26 others was never a matter before the court, and no legal pronouncement has restored their seats,” Iboroma reiterated.
The government is urging citizens to remain calm and not fall prey to the wave of misinformation, as it continues its legal battle to ensure clarity and justice prevail in the state’s legislature.
