A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Thursday, granted an interlocutory injunction, restraining factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule and 24 members of the house from parading themselves as members of the assembly.
The court which was presided over by Justice Charles Wali also restrained the assembly members from meeting or sitting at the Auditorium of the House of Assembly Quarters located at Off Aba Road, Port Harcourt “or at any other place whatsoever to purport to carry out the legislative business of the Rivers State House of Assembly”, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
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The court gave reason for the injunction as “their legislative seats having been declared vacant”.
The injunction was issued based on the suit instituted by factional Speaker of the House, Victor Oko-Jumbo and two others who dragged the 25 lawmakers to court seeking that they should be stopped from parading themselves as members of the House of Assembly, having defected to another political party.
Also joined as defendants in the suit are the Rivers State Governor, the Attorney-General of the state and the Chief Judge of the state, who were also restrained “from dealing with, interfacing, accepting any resolutions, bills and howsoever interacting with the 1 to 25th Defendants in their purported capacities as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, their legislative seats having been declared vacant with effect from 13th December 2023 pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit”.
Justice Wali later adjourned the case to 1″ July 2024 for mention.
Recall that the status of the 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by factional Speaker Martin Amaewhule and are known to be pro-Nyesom Wike has been a subject of legal debate since the publicly announced their defection from PDP which sponsored their elections into the house to the APC.
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