Following the Court of Appeal ruling in the state, Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) Speaker, Rt Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, called on the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct a bye election as he alleged that the 25 lawmakers seats remain vacant.
While addressing the house during the plenary session in the temporary legislative facility in Port Harcourt, the speaker, Oko-Jumbo, stated that Rt. Hon. Edison Ehie, the former Speaker of RSHA, had declared the 25 seats of the lawmakers vacant on December 13, 2023, after the 25 lawmakers defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on December 11.
Speaking further, Oko-Jumbo explained that the law suits no. PHC/1512/CS/2024 filed against Martins Amaewhule and 24 others restrained them from parading themselves as members of RSHA.
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Dissatisfied with the ruling of the Rivers State High Court, Martins Amaewhule and his friends filed appeal No. CA/PH/198/2024 at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division.
He asserted that house members hope that there was an error in the Court of Appeal judgement, which stated that the Rivers State High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine SUIT NO. PHC/1512/CS/2024.
Furthermore, after the ruling at the Court of Appeal on July 4, it was said that the Rivers State High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear and determine the case; the court struck down the suit No. PHC/1512/CS/2024 and NOTHING MORE.
He alleged that the court did not declare the 25 lawmakers’ defection from the PDP to the APC or the members of the RSHA.
Emphasising this, the speaker, Oko-Jumbo, noted that the House of Assembly remains one in Nigeria within states and acknowledged being the only speaker in Rivers State.
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