A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom state Dr Tom FredFish has kicked against the recent resolution purportedly reached by the embattled governor of Rivers His Excellency Sim Fubara and his political godfather and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike describing the truce as desecration of Nigeria judiciary and constitution.
In a statement made available to newsmen in Uyo on Wednesday, FredFish stated that the peace accord reached by the Rivers State governor Sim Fubara and his former boss can not stand given the legal implication and judicial precedence set by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the issue of carpet crossing and defection by the lawmakers.
FredFish explained that such arrangements between the political gladiators in Rivers State are alien to democratic culture and norms.
“The statement reads in parts :
The truce is a desecration of the Nigerian constitution and an arrangement alien to democratic culture and norms.”
He noted that although the list of conditions for peace which Governor Fubara and others signed in a document that is being circulated on social media is a flagrant violation of Governor Fubara’s liberty as governor.
“I am particularly interested in one of the resolutions which suggested that the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Hon. Martins Amaewhule should be recognized and Amaewhule returned as the Speaker of the House alongside his 26 APC defectors and co-travellers.”
FredFish; a youth activist who instituted a 100 million Naira suit against the defunct TELL magazine for denigrating the office of the governor of Akwa Ibom in 2010 and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for unnecessarily hiking fuel prices in 2017, described the proposed return of the former Speaker as an “intimidating slap” to the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt.
” Considering its order in a suit marked PHC/3030/CS/2023, where the court restrained Hon. Martin Amaewhule and Rt. Hon. Dumle Maol from parading themselves as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the RSHA.
“As far as the laws of the land and the rule of law are concerned, no individual or group of persons can act outside the confines of the constitution or disobey the courts because of a sitting room arrangement by party chieftains to satisfy their political capital. It is illegal, unconstitutional, criminal, foul, and cannot stand.”
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“If they want to be returned as speaker and deputy speaker of the House they ought to return to the Court and give reasons why the court should return them to the House and not attempt to go back to the office through a back door.”
FredFish insisted that going by the laws, Hon. Amaewhule and 26 others in the Rivers Assembly were no longer Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, having defected to another political party hence the issue of returning the leadership under Hon. Amaewhule is unnecessary and uncalled for.
He observed that Hon. (Barr). Edison Ehie remains the constitutionally recognized Speaker of the Assembly until the Court says otherwise and warned Hon. Ehie never to succumb to pressure to vacate the office because of mere political pronouncement warning him that any attempt to do otherwise would result in another court for contempt as the matter has gone beyond Hon. Ehie as a person.
“I am waiting to see if the resolution will be implemented and have notified my lawyers in White Waters chambers who are on a stand-by to help seek redress in court and to strengthen our laws and ethos of democratic governance, as no man is bigger than the laws of Nigeria”, he said.
