Rivers Crisis: Court Strikes Out Suit Challenging Tinubu’s Intervention

The Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has struck out a lawsuit that sought to impede Governor Siminalayi Fubara from presenting the 2024 Budget to the state legislature, led by Martin Amaewhule.

The suit, initiated by Victor Jumbo, the lawmaker representing the Bonny Constituency in the House, and eight others, including prominent figures under the umbrella of Rivers Elders, aimed to challenge the legality of a peace agreement facilitated by President Bola Tinubu.

The plaintiffs, among whom are Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, Rear Admiral O.P. Fingesi, Ann Kio-Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma, argued that the agreement was unconstitutional.

Additionally, the lawsuit sought to restrict the activities of 27 lawmakers reportedly allied with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

These lawmakers had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress. The plaintiffs also sought to prevent Governor Fubara from reappointing nine commissioners who had resigned their positions.

However, when the case was brought before Justice Chiwendu Nworgu, the motion for a substitute to some parties who had not been served was not entertained.

Justice Nworgu, in his ruling, declined jurisdiction over the matter, referencing a previous decision by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which invalidated the activities of the Edison Ehie-led faction of the Assembly.

The ruling has elicited a reaction from Emmanuel Rukari, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. Speaking to journalists outside the court, Rukari expressed dismay over the court’s decision, suggesting that it undermines the judiciary’s role as a bastion of hope for the common man.

This judgment represents a significant turn in the ongoing political saga within Rivers State, highlighting the complex interplay of legal and political forces.

The court’s decision to strike out the suit paves the way for Governor Fubara to proceed with the budget presentation and potentially reappoint the commissioners in question, further intensifying the political atmosphere in the state.

Rukari stated, “If you ask me as a lawyer from My Lord’s ruling, it will seem that he has delved into matters for which parties have not fully been served.

“All we came to court to do this morning is to ask for an ex parte order for substituted service because most of the parties have been served, some others we haven’t been able to serve them.

“That is why we came to court for an ex parte application to enable us to serve the remaining parties, only for him (judge) to delve into the jurisdiction where nobody on the other side had come in to oppose or to challenge his jurisdiction.

“He has also gone ahead to cite the case of Omotosho which was delivered within the week. I don’t know if there is a Certified True Copy to that effect which he looked into because we spent over an hour waiting for his ruling when he excused himself and went in.

“So it is likely that he may have called every Tom, Dick and Harry to help out with what to say. It is rather embarrassing I will say that we have gotten ourselves to this level where the judiciary is no longer the hope for the common man.”

Continuing, he said, “But as it were. We will further the course of justice. We will go back home and talk with our clients to see what their mindset is and then advise them appropriately and then we will know what to do next.”

Last week, some elders in Rivers State filed a motion ex parte urging the court to stop Fubara from presenting the 2024 budget afresh to the state House of Assembly.

The governor had in December presented an N800bn 2024 budget to a faction of the Assembly, comprising four lawmakers.

Following the passage of the budget by the lawmakers, Fubara subsequently signed the budget into law.