Rivers elders drag Tinubu, INEC, 27 Assembly members to court

Some elders from Rivers State have dragged President Bola Tinubu to the Federal High Court in Abuja, for “compelling” Governor Siminalayi Fubara to enter into an “unconstitutional agreement” with over the ongoing political crisis in the state.

The suit was filed by a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Bonny State Constituency, Victor Jumbo as well as Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O. P. Fingesi, Ann Kio Briggs and Emmanuel Deinma.

They plaintiffs noted that the said eight-point agreement, signed on December 18, 2023, was not only illegal but amounted to an usurpation, nullification, and undermining of the extant/binding relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

Consequently, they prayed the court to determine whether President Tinubu, Governor Fubara, and the Rivers State Assembly have the rights and are entitled to enter into any agreement that has the effect of nullifying or undermining the constitutional/legal potency of the provisions of Section 109(I)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

They contended that President Tinubu and Governor Fubara do not have any statutory power to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting fresh elections to replace the 27 Rivers State lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Also Read: Ex-Rivers Commissioner Reveals How Tinubu Threatened Fubara Into Signing Peace Deal with Wike

Others cited in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1718/2023 are the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Governor Fubara, the Rivers Assembly, Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, and the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.