National Telescope national telescope newspaper
By Paulinus Nta, A’IBOM
The Rivers State Government has clarified that the recent Court of Appeal judgment in Abuja did not reinstate the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the State House of Assembly, dismissing claims that they remain members of the Assembly.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Israel Dagogo Iboroma, SAN, the government insisted that Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers had automatically vacated their seats upon their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023.
According to Iboroma, this defection triggered Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution, which mandates that lawmakers who switch political parties lose their seats.
“The issue of defection of Martin Amaewhule and 26 others was never before the Federal High Court or the Court of Appeal. Therefore, no court has legitimized their membership of the House of Assembly following their defection,” Iboroma emphasized.
The Attorney General further explained that the case at the Federal High Court and the subsequent appeal concerned the 2023 Appropriation Law and the National Assembly’s intervention in Rivers State’s legislative functions, not the status of the defected lawmakers.
The Attorney General also announced that the state government would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court and file an application for a stay of execution to maintain the current status quo.
