By Olawale Lamina
Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progre ssives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has cautioned the Martin Amaewhule-led fraction of former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Woke to be circumspect in their struggle to return from political relegation after their defection- “voluntary retirement from the business of lawmaking since December of 2023.”
The party chieftain expressed grave concern over the way and manner Rivers State had been turned into a theatre of war since governor Fubara parted ways with his predecessor and estwhile political godfather- Nyesom Wike, alleging “from the administration of the state over the distractions and huge liability his interferences with governance, and more particularly the finances of the state had created for his government which is still in it’s prime.”
Eze observed that due to the non-conformist posture of Fubara, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike “ordered his 27 puppets at the Rivers State House of Assembly to prepare to commence impeachment proceedings against the Governor, but unfortunately, their defection stripped them of the legitimacy to embark on any valid legislative business, triggering a conflagration of legal fireworks and a gamut of judicial interpretations.”
The part stalwart referenced a recent judgement of the Court of Appeal where the Court on Thursday, October 10, 2024 held that Gov. Fubara re-presents the 2024 appropriation bill to the Amaewhule led Assembly, noting that the appeal arose from the judgement of a Federal High Court which was given after Gov. Fubara through his Lawyers, on the orders of President Tinubu, withdrew all processes filed in defence of the suit brought by Martins Amaewhule. He said that President Tinubu’s directive was contained in a resolution reached after dialoguing with waring parties in the Rivers Political impasse. “In other words, the judgement of the Court below which was upheld by the appellate court on Thursday October 10 was an usufruct of Wike’s impudent bluffing of President Tinubu’s directive,” he emphasized.
Awed by the floodgate of conflicting constructions arising from the judgement, Chief Eze advised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike and his group of political supporters to adopt the simple connotation which the verdict of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/133/CS/2023, conveys, in their interpretation of the said judge.
In a statement issued on the backdrop of the gamut of interpretations that greeted the judgement by the pro-Wike group, in their renewed efforts to continually keep the state in crisis, Eze said the verdict did not touch on the vacancy or otherwise of the seats of the defected former Lawmakers who voluntarily yielded-up their positions upon their exit from PDP – the party on which platform they were elected into office, and whose seats were declared vacant on the 13th day of December, 2023 by the RT. Hon. Edison Ehie, then Speaker of the Assembly.
He stressed that Section 109(i) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is automatic and needs no judicial interpretation to take effect and called on the former Lawmakers “to awake from the euphoria of the false narrative adopted and sold to them by their team of judgement interpreters whose exciting but vague interpretations cannot help their situation”.
Nonetheless, Eze argued that given the fact that Section 109(i) (g) takes automatic effect upon the defection of a member of a State House of Assembly, one would have loved to see the Court of Appeal oder a stay of proceedings on the matter to allow the determination of the question of whether or not the 27 former Lawmakers are still members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
He cautioned that judicial officers especially Judges, must be wary of being inveighed into a situation in which they find themselves “becoming partisan agents of wrongdoers in the pursuit of very selfish and anti-people vendettae.”
He also noted that, although the Court of Appeal verdict does not restore the former Lawmakers to their lost seats, saying that it had been exposed to ridicule particularly by the Wike group whom he alleged “are desperate to hold on to anything from the Court to assert themselves.” Such situation, Eze said, could cause crisis and the Court would have considered the fragility of the political atmosphere in the state to be circumspect in their handling of sensitive situations such as this.
“Martins Amaewhule and his co-travellers are now hinging on the judgement of the Appeal court wrongly interpreted to them to assume that they have returned from their self-inflicted political relegation, so much so that they could muscle courage to go the extend of purportedly sitting to conduct legislative business when they have no such powers,” he stated.
Eze equally reminded those who seem lost in the euphoria of the ridiculous interpretation of the Court of Appeal judgement that the question of whether or not the 27 former Lawmakers have not lost their seat by virtue of their defection, is still pending before the courts and untill the question is determined in their favour they remain former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and therefore lack the legitimacy to carry-on any legislative function for the state.
He called on Amaewhule and his group to bury the thought of attempting to impeach the Governor as that could backfire on them. But he counselled the gladiators to be circumspect and mindful of the kind of orders they take from the FCT minister, stressing that the FCT Minister “does not mean well for the state and people should be careful not to make themselves willing tools in his hands to destroy the state.”
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