The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has scheduled March 18, 2024, to hear a lawsuit seeking the removal of 27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, these lawmakers are aligned with former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike.
The suit, brought by the Rivers State Civil Society Organisations, argues that under Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution, the lawmakers should forfeit their seats for abandoning the party they were elected under.
Initially slated for Monday, the hearing was adjourned as Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam was attending a judges’ conference.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, granted a request by Rivers elders, led by Chief Arabs Sara-Igbe and others, to serve court papers to the pro-Wike lawmakers’ leader via substituted means.
These elders are seeking to invalidate resolutions reached by Governor Fubara, Wike, and lawyers during a December meeting in Abuja chaired by President Bola Tinubu.
Among these resolutions was Fubara’s recognition of the pro-Wike lawmakers and the reabsorption of nine pro-Wike commissioners who resigned during the crisis.
The elders contested these resolutions, believing they favored Wike over Fubara. After their initial suit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction by Justice Chiwendu Nworgu on January 23, 2024, they appealed the decision.
A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Oluwayemisi Daudu, granted an application for expedited hearing and set April 8, 2024, as the next hearing date.
