By Mark Lenu
Hopes of remaining in office as LG chairmen received some boost after an Appeal Court sitting in Abuja faulted the ruling of a state high court that derecognized the state legislative membership of Martin Amaewhule and 24 others.
Our correspondent who went round some LGAs in the state said the supporters of the immediate past LG chairmen have continued to jubilate over the appeal court judgment which was delivered by a three-man panel led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada.
The appeal court had on Thursday, dismissed the exparte order issued May 10, 2024, by the Rivers State High Court, in Port Harcourt, which barred Martin Amaewhule from parading himself as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The appellate court also dismissed the decision of the state high court which stopped 24 other members of the Assembly from accessing the complex or carrying out any such legislative assignment in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The supporters of the immediate past LG chairmen said the judgment of the court of appeal had by extension validated the law that elongated the tenure of LG chairmen. Tension heightened in the state on June 17 when the immediate past LG chairmen refused to vacate office, insisting that the Martin Amaewhule-led state assembly elongated their tenure in the amended Local Government Law.
To forestall attacks on the LG secretariats by hired thugs, the state police command deployed its officers and men to occupy the council secretariats. The electoral umpire of the state. RSIEC had fixed October for the conduct of local government elections in the state.
