The Rivers State Government has officially addressed recent court proceedings involving the status of 27 lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, clarified today that Martins Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), are no longer members of the PDP.
In a press briefing, Iboroma emphasized that the recent judgment in SUIT NO DHC/20/CS/2024 did not declare the seats of these lawmakers vacant. Instead, the court struck out the suit for lack of locus standi and jurisdiction, and for being an abuse of court process.
He noted that this outcome has been misrepresented in various media reports.
Iboroma highlighted that Amaewhule and his colleagues’ defection to the APC on December 11, 2023, is well-documented in affidavit evidence submitted in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/1681/CS/2023, currently pending before the Federal High Court, Abuja Division.
“Under section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, only the Federal High Court can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and the 26 others are still members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly,” Iboroma stated.
He further recalled a subsisting interlocutory injunction in Suit No. PHC/512/CS/2024 that restrains Amaewhule and his colleagues from presenting themselves as lawmakers in Rivers State pending the determination of the substantive suit, which has not been appealed to date.
The Attorney-General urged the public to disregard misleading reports suggesting that Amaewhule and the other lawmakers remain members of the PDP and the House of Assembly.
