Rivers State Attorney General, Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, has addressed a press briefing to clarify a recent court judgment and refute misleading reports circulating in the media.
Iboroma stated that the suit in question, SUIT NO DHC/20/CS/2024, did not declare the seats of Martins Amaewhule and 26 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant. Instead, the claimants’ suit was struck out due to lack of locus standi and jurisdiction.
He emphasized that Martins Amaewhule and 26 others had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023, as affirmed in an affidavit evidence submitted in a pending Federal High Court case.
Iboroma stressed that only the Federal High Court can determine their status as members of the PDP and the Rivers State House of Assembly, as stated in Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution.
He also reminded the public of a subsisting interlocutory injunction restraining Martins Amaewhule and his colleagues from parading themselves as lawmakers in Rivers State, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The Attorney General urged the public to disregard misleading reports suggesting that Martins Amaewhule and 26 others had been declared members of the PDP and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
This clarification aims to set the record straight and alleviate any confusion caused by the circulating misinformation.
TEXT OF PRESS BRIEFING BY DAGOGO IBOROMA, SAN, RIVERS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND COMMISSIONER FOR JUSTICE ON MONDAY, JUNE 10, 2024
Gentlemen of the Press
• As Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and 3rd defendant in SUIT NO DHC/20/CS/2024, my attention has been drawn to a recent judgment. This suit did not seek to declare the seat of Martins Amaewhule and 26 others in Rivers State House of Assembly vacant.
• The suit of the claimants was struck out for want of locus standi and jurisdiction and also for being an abuse of court process which robbed the trial court of jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.
• There is misleading news circulating in social media, print and electronic media that Martins Amaewhule & 26 others are members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
• As you all know, Martins Amaewhule and 26 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress on the 11th Day of December, 2023 and stated that much in affidavit evidence deposed to by Martins Amaewhule for himself and on behalf of 26 others in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/1681/CS/2023 before Hon. Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division. The Suit is still pending in court.
• By section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it is only the Federal High Court that can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still members of Peoples Democratic Party and also members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This much was held by the trial court.
Also Read: Fubara awards N19.6b contract for reconstruction of demolished Rivers assembly complex
However, you will recall that these is a subsisting order of interlocutory injunction in Suit No.
PHC/512/CS/2024 restraining Martins Amaewhule and his co-travelers from further parading or presenting themselves as law makers in Rivers State pending the determination of the substantive suit, which has not been appealed against till date.
• We urge the public to disregard the news presently making rounds in social, print and electronic media to the effect that Martins Amaewhule and 26 others have been declared as members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
[…] IGP further directed the commissioner of police in Rivers State, CP Olatunji Disu, to heighten security measures across the state and institute thorough […]