Following the first sitting of the pro-Wike House in months on Monday, the crisis in the Rivers State House of Assembly shows no signs of abating. A parallel session was also held by the faction led by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
Governor Fubara had earlier presented the budget to the pro-Wike House when his current Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, presided as Speaker. The budget estimate was passed by Ehie and the pro-Fubara lawmakers and subsequently signed into law by the governor. Fubara emphasized that the budget aims to promote economic development, inclusive growth, and address socio-economic inequality in the state.
The Monday session of the Amaewhule-led Assembly followed last week’s Court of Appeal judgment, which nullified the expulsion of Amaewhule and 24 others from the Assembly by the Rivers State High Court. In May, Justice Charles Wali had issued an ex parte order, barring Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the state House of Assembly, following a motion brought by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
However, a three-member panel of the appellate court ruled that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to grant the ex parte order. The court cited Section 272(3) of the Constitution, which gives the Federal High Court the power to determine whether the seat of a House of Assembly member has become vacant, thus excluding state high courts from having jurisdiction. The appellate court declared the ex parte order null and void.
Despite the appellate court’s decision, Victor Oko-Jumbo, in his opening remarks during a plenary on Friday, asserted that the Court of Appeal erred in its judgment. “We strongly believe that the Court of Appeal was in error when it held that the Rivers State High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine SUIT NO PHC/1512/CS/2024,” he stated. Oko-Jumbo announced that an appeal had been filed to the Supreme Court of Nigeria challenging the appellate court’s judgment delivered on July 4, 2024.
