The Rivers State caucus in the House of Representatives on Monday, paid a solidarity visit to the Victor Oko-Jumbo -led Rivers State House of Assembly
The visit is to counter a similar visit by some National Assembly members from the state, who last week paid a solidarity visit to Martins Amaewhule, and his group of lawmakers.
The caucus said it’e visiting the state House of Assembly to set the records straight about the political happenings in the state, to ensure the public are not fed half- truths, and misled.
It asserted that Amaewhule and the other 26 legislators who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023, have lost their rights to retain their assembly seats, and have no locus to claim otherwise.
Citing several court cases to buttress their stand, the caucus said the Supreme Court had declared that the proper, and only interpretation to be given to the provisions of Section 109 (1) (g) and Section 68 (1) (g) of the constitution, is that any lawmaker who defects to another political party, automatically loses his seat in the affected legislative House from the date of his or her defection.
“The pronouncements of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in these cases, having not been set aside nor overruled in any subsequent judgment of the Supreme Court, remain the law till date, on issues of defection of a member of a legislative House in Nigeria.
“The legal effect of these provisions, and the Supreme Court judgment is that, as of December 11, 2023, when Martin Amaewhule read out the letters of defection of himself, and 26 others on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly, they lost their seats, and automatically and mandatorily became former members of the House.
“The only legal implication of the above, is that Martins Amaewhule and his group of 27, remain former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and accordingly are no longer entitled to parade themselves as members of the House or to partake in any business or affair of the House,” the caucus said.
Read also: Rivers reacts to Supreme Court judgment, says dismissed appeal mere academic exercise
The caucus also noted that neither the fact of the 27 lawmakers’ defection nor any issue relating to their defection, nor their status as former lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly was raised, submitted or discussed in the proceedings leading to the 22 January 2024 judgment of Justice Omotosho.
The caucus argued that instead of placing before the Federal High Court, the truth and material facts about their status as ex-lawmakers, to afford the court decide on the real issues, the former lawmakers invented lies, and falsehood to mislead the court.
“Another material fact is whether the Oko-Jumbo- led lawmakers can carry on with businesses of the House, after the others automatically, and mandatorily lost their seats by virtue of their voluntary defection.
“This issue was not raised nor discussed in the Justice Omotosho judgment, which is thus inapplicable in the circumstance. However, the rule that applies in the circumstance has long been laid down by Justice Walter Onnoghen, in his judgment on the defection of 14 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly,” it added.
The caucus therefore called on well-meaning Nigerians, to ignore the mischievous, and deliberate misrepresentation of the judgment of Justice Omotosho on the situation in Rivers State by Amaewhule and his co-travelers.
