Rivers State House of Assembly Heads to Supreme Court Against Amaewhule-Led Lawmakers

…Says no two Assemblies as Amaewhule and co are no longer lawmakers

…Asks INEC to conduct bye election to fill vacant seats

…Bills on emergency management, state transport system pass first reading

The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, has announced that the Assembly is appealing a recent judgment by the Court of Appeal concerning the jurisdiction of the Rivers State High Court in the matter of suit number PHC/1512/CS/2024. Oko-Jumbo described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice.

During a session in Port Harcourt on Friday, Oko-Jumbo stated that the Assembly has instructed its legal team to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the Appeal Court’s ruling. He clarified that, contrary to rumors, the Court of Appeal did not declare that Martin Amaewhule and 24 others had not defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC). Nor did the court affirm them as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The Speaker emphasized that there cannot be two Houses of Assembly in Rivers State or any state in Nigeria. He asserted that Amaewhule and his colleagues are no longer members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, in line with an earlier declaration by Rt. Hon. Ehie Edison, which has not been overturned by any competent court.

“Once again, we, the legitimate members of the RSHA, hereby call on the Independent National Electoral Commission to promptly conduct a bye-election to fill the vacant seats in the RSHA,” Oko-Jumbo declared.

“We strongly urge the general public to ignore Martin Amaewhule and the 24 others in their pretense that they are members of the RSHA.”

Meanwhile, two bills—the Rivers State Transport Company Reform Bill 2024 and the Rivers State Emergency Management Bill 2024—passed the first reading in the State House of Assembly.