A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has issued an order restraining Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule from parading himself as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The court granted the order after considering a motion declaring his seat vacant.
The presiding Judge, His Lordship, Hon. Justice Charles N. Wali, ruled on a motion brought by the new factional Speaker of the House, Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo and 2 others.
The court also barred 24 other members of the Assembly from accessing the complex or carrying out any legislative assignments in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The Speaker, Hon. Jumbo, and his colleagues filed a suit asking the court to restrain those who defected from their original party to another political party from acting as members of the Parliament, having lost their seats.
Justice Wali granted an Order of interim injunction, restraining the 1st to 25th Defendants from parading and holding out themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
An Order of interim injunction was also granted, restraining the 26th to 28th Defendants from interacting with the 1st to 25th Defendants as members of the Assembly.
The 1st to 25th defendants are the factional Speaker, Amaewhule, and his colleagues who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The 26th to 28th defendants are Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the Attorney-General of the State, and the Chief Judge of Rivers State, respectively.
The court further ordered that the Order, the Motion on Notice, and other processes in the case be served on the 1st to 25th Defendants/Respondents within seven (7) days by pasting at the entrance gate of the Rivers State House of Assembly Legislative Quarters.
The case was adjourned to the 29th May, 2024, for Motion on Notice.
The ruling PDP had declared the seats of 27 of their members who defected to the APC vacant in December 2023, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections into the 27 State Constituencies in Rivers State. Hon. Jumbo emerged as the new Speaker on 8th May, 2024.
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