The Rivers State Government is taking a strong stance against the recent Appeal Court judgment, insisting that it did not reinstate Martin Amaewhule and 26 others as members of the State House of Assembly. According to the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dagogo Iboroma, Amaewhule and the others automatically lost their seats when they defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023 ¹.
The government argues that the issue of defection was never brought before the Federal High Court or the Court of Appeal, and therefore, no court has legitimized their membership based on this ¹. Dissatisfied with the judgment, the Governor has directed his lawyers to file an appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court and also file an application for a stay of execution.
It’s worth noting that the Court of Appeal had dismissed an appeal by Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, seeking to remove 27 members of the State House of Assembly due to their defection from PDP to APC ¹. The court held that Fubara had no basis to file the appeal since he withdrew his opposition to the case at the Federal High Court.
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