Rivers: 27 Lawmakers Are No Longer Legislators – Falana

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said the 27 lawmakers in Rivers State who defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are no longer lawmakers.

Naija News reports that Falana said the 27 lawmakers led by Martins Awaehwule on their own swore an affidavit that they left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In an interview with Channels TV on Monday, the human rights lawyer also disclosed that the 27 lawmakers had yet to pay ₦5 million the court required.

“You see, these cases have gone to court, and I’m saying, as of today, the 27 members, in the eye of the law, are no longer legislators. They went to the Federal High Court in Abuja, and swore to an affidavit, that we are no longer in the PDP.  And they got an ex-party induction, ex-party order. Please, don’t fill our seats yet, INEC. And the court said, okay, for this very serious order that you are asking for, you will pay damages, I think ₦5 million or so, which they haven’t paid. But as soon as they now knew that the affidavit had become public knowledge, they then secretly withdrew the case. But that affidavit stands forever.

“It’s a record of the court that we are no longer in the house. We are no longer members of the PDP. We have now decamped to APC. But please, INEC, in the interim, my Lord, don’t allow INEC to fill our vehicle. And that has not been removed from the record of the court, where they, on their own, have sworn to an affidavit that we are no longer members of the PDP. We have decamped. But please, my Lord, don’t allow INEC to fill these vacancies yet,” he said.

Falana stated that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State was right to have related with the three-man lawmakers who passed the 2024 budget.

He further added that the Supreme Court ruling on Monday did not speak on the legitimacy of the 27 lawmakers.

“Yes. That’s the law. Until the vacancies are filled. That case is coming up on the 17th. And they are defending the case. And when you say Supreme Court has spoken to them, Supreme Court never spoke about the legitimacy of their seats. In fact, the notice of discontinuance reads, ‘the appellants hereby wish to withdraw their appeal because it has been overtaken by events’. That is the language,” he added.