Rivers Crisis: Appeal Court returns speaker Amaewhule, 24 house members, sacks Oko-Jumbo

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, Thursday, dismissed an order of the Rivers State High Court, which sacked the Martin Amaewhule’s led 24 Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The lower court had, in its judgement, restricted led the lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the Assembly. The appellate court made the order following an appeal by Amaewhule and the 24 Assembly members, challenging the interlocutory decision of the Rivers State High Court, delivered on May 10, 2024. The 3-man panel member of the court led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada held that Amaewhule’s appeal was “meritorious” and therefore allowed the same. Consequently, the suit by Victor Oko-Jumbo at the Rivers State High Court is hereby struck out. The panel held that Amaewhule and the 24 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly should revert to their positions before the restraining order was made. The Court of Appeal held that the only court vested with jurisdiction to hear the suit filed by Oko-jumbo is the Federal High Court and not the State High Court. Therefore, the panel unanimously reasoned that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit filed by the 1st to 3rd respindents. Consequently, it was the contention of the appellate court that the ex parte order which had restrained Amaewhule and the 24 Assembly members, having been made without jurisdiction, “is null and void and of no effect whatsoever”. “Trial court lacks the jurisdiction to hear and determine the suit of the respindents, the court said. The panel held that in granting an ex parte order, there must be an existence of “real urgency and not self-induced urgency.” More so, the Court of Appeal said the trial court should have heard the position of the appellant in the interest of fair hearing since there was no urgency in making the interlocutory injunction.

BREAKING! CJ transfers Amaewhule’s defection case

The cases challenging the defection of the 25 State lawmakers in Rivers State from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC, have been transferred. The case was transferred from Federal High Court 4, Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Steven Dalyop Pam, to court two controlled by Justice E. O. Obele. However, there was confusion yesterday among journalists covering the court proceedings and some of the lawyers in the matter as they got to the court, Friday morning, to discover that the cases have been transferred to a different court. The lawyers and journalists who were stocked at court four could only realise that the matters have been moved when the notable Senior Advocates of Nigeria in the matter who had arrived the court premises could not be found in court four. On approaching the court clerk after over an hour of resumption of court sitting, it was discovered that the matter was transferred Thursday to the new court. This transfer came following a petition by a defendant in matter, Hon. Martins Amaewhule, to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Tsoho, demanding that the cases against him be transferred to another court. The cases are one instituted by BOOT Party and others as plaintiffs in suit number FHC/PHC/269/2024 and another by Civil Society Organsiation in the state against Amaewhule and other, all on the defection of the defendants to the APC. When the court had resumed on Monday for hearing, the court was confronted with a petition signed by Martin Amaewhule addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Tsoho, seeking the case to be reassigned to another court. The Presiding Judge, Justice Steven Dalyop Pam, who read the petition in the open court, had noted that the petitioner, Amaewhule, was praying the CJ of the High Court, to stop the hearing process following the petition. When the petition was read, Counsel for the plaintiff, BOOT Party, Mr. Reuben Wanogho, had informed the court that the petition was aimed at arresting the ongoing case and urged the court to discountenance it. But, Counsel for the 1st to 25th Defendants in the suit, Ferdinand Orbi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, denied knowledge of the petition by his client, prayed the court to adhere to the petition and stop further proceeding if the letter was addressed to the CJ of the court. However, the presiding judge, Pam, noted that in the first instance the petitioner (Amaewhule) has no motion, counter affidavit before him and that he is not yet known in the case. Pam in his ruling had noted that the petitioner has not copied his petition on the plaintiffs, noting the court would have no other option than discountenance the petition and move on with hearing of motions for joinder.