National Telescope national telescope newspaper
Olatunde Oluwasola|
The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered parties involved in the ongoing House of Assembly crisis to maintain status quo.
In a ruling on a suit marked CA/PH/198/2024, the three-man appeal panel urged the parties to “maintain the status quo and not take any step that would affect the merit of the matter before us.”
The appeal was filed by Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others against Rt Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo and five others.
Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, who led the panel, said: “We order that the parties should not take any step that would affect the merit of the matter. The notice of appeal should be served on the defendants before the adjourned date.”
The panel adjourned the case till July 20 for further hearing.
The High Court had earlier given an interlocutory injunction empowering Oko-Jumbo to continue leading the state assembly, and restraining Amaewhule and 24 others from parading as speaker and lawmakers.
Amaewhule and others had approached the Court of Appeal seeking to vacate the injunction and nullify the laws made by Oko-Jumbo’s leadership.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling has temporarily halted any further action in the crisis, pending the determination of the appeal.
