National Democratic Coalition (NDC) has described the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which re-instated the seats of the 24 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a low point in Nigeria’s democracy.
The group said the court has given licence to politicians to defect from the party upon which they were elected to another without consequences.
Charles Wali of the Rivers State High Court had, on May 10, issued an interim injunction that restrained the embattled lawmakers, loyal to the immediate past governor of the state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, from parading themselves as members of the Assembly, having defected from the political party that sponsored their elections.
The court order followed a suit that was filed by Victor Oko-Jumbo that subsequently emerged as the speaker of the Assembly.
The litigants, who are loyal to Governor Siminialayi Fubara, in their suit, contended that Martin Amaewhule and the 24 other defected lawmakers ceased to be members of the Rivers State House of Assembly since December 13, 2023, when their seats were declared vacant.
Wali had, while upholding the case of the plaintiffs, barred the pro-Wike lawmakers from accessing the Assembly complex or carrying out any legislative assignment in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
But dissatisfied with the verdict, embattled Rivers State House of Assembly speaker, Martin Amaewhule, and his colleagues, approached the appellate court to set it aside.
In the appeal, marked: CA/PH/198/2024, the pro-Wike lawmakers urged the appellate court to stay the execution of the High Court judgment.
They contended that the state High Court acted beyond its jurisdiction when it issued the restraining order against them.
The appellants further prayed to the appellate court to invalidate all the legislative actions that have been taken by the Jumbo-led Rivers State House of Assembly.
However, in a unanimous judgment, yesterday, the three-member panel of the appellate court, held that the Rivers State High Court, which issued the order, lacked the requisite jurisdiction to do so.
The court which held that there was merit in the appeal by the 25 pro-Wike lawmakers upheld the appeal that was lodged before it by the lawmakers, who were led by Amaewhule.
The appellate court held that, by the provision of Section 273(3) of the constitution, it is only the Federal High Court that has the jurisdiction to determine whether or not the seat of a lawmaker is vacant or his term of office has ceased.
Jimi Bada, who delivered the lead judgment, held that by granting the far-reaching order, restraining the lawmakers from further acting as members of the Assembly without hearing from the appellants amounted to a denial of their rights to a fair hearing.
Bada held that no urgency warranted the grant of the ex parte order by the Rivers State High Court.
“The trial court ought to have listened to both sides before coming to a decision prejudicial to the appellants,” he said.
The appellate court consequently invalidated all the restraining orders that were issued against them by the High Court.
Other members of the panel that gave the judgment were Hamma Akawu Barka and Balikisu Bello Aliyu.
Reacting, NDC Executive Director, Samson Iroegbunam, described the Court of Appeal’s ruling as the equivalent of providing cover for illegally as the former lawmakers cannot and should not be allowed to hide under the law that they have no regard for.
“In addition, our coalition found it confounding that the Court of Appeal gave this ruling, which it was based on the logic that only the Federal High Court and no other court has the jurisdiction to determine cases of tenures and vacancies of the House of Assembly, governors and president and not the state High Courts, even though the constitution did not make it clear which court should have jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes concerning when an elected officeholder should cease to hold office,” he said.
He also declared that the reinstatement of the former members of the Assembly was against the rule of law, undemocratic, antithetical, retrogressive and provocative to the point of further jeopardising the fragile peace in the state.
Iroegbunam said the ruling, given its controversial nature, has again heightened concerns about the raging allegations that have been made against the judiciary.
“The Appeal Court has now created new complications with the judicial precedence it has set instead of giving rulings that stabilise Nigeria’s democracy and enhance the rule of law,” he said.
The group urged Rivers State people to remain calm as the judgment would not stand the test of time, especially since the democratic-minded stakeholders in the state have indicated that the matter shall be pursued to the Supreme Court until the will of the people is respected.
“Nigerians should stand up to defend the constitution which is in Section 109. (1) (g) clearly stated that ‘A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected,” he said.
Credit: The Sun