The Court of Appeal, Abuja division on Thursday set aside the order made by the High Court of Rivers State restraining the 25 members of the Rivers House of Assembly, who allegedly defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from further parading themselves as members of the Assembly and conducting legislative businesses.
In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the appellate court held that the Rivers State High Court lacked the power/jurisdiction to hear the case which bordered on whether or not the seats of the lawmakers, who allegedly defected, were vacant or their terms had ceased.
The court held that, by the provision of Section 273(3) of the Constitution, it is only the Federal High Court that has the jurisdiction to determine whether or not the seat of a lawmaker is vacant or his term of office has ceased.
In the lead judgment, read by Justice Jimi Bada, the court held that granting the far-reaching order, restraining the lawmakers from further acting as members of the Assembly without hearing from the appellants amounted to a denial of their right to a fair hearing.
Justice Bada held that no urgency warranted the grant of the ex-parte order by the Rivers State High Court.
According to him, “The trial court ought to have listened to both sides before coming to a decision prejudicial to the appellants.”
The judgment was sequel to an appeal marked: CA/PH/198/2024 filed by Martin Chike Amaewhule and 24 others, with Victor Oko Jumbo (Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly) as respondent.
Other members of the Court of Appeal panel, Justice Hamma Barka and Bilikisu Aliyu agreed with the lead judgment.
Meanwhile, the said judgment of the Court of Appeal has been described as a low point in Nigeria’s democracy.
A Rights Group, National Democratic Coalition, NDC while reacting to the judgement said it rejected the judgement, adding that the court has given licence to politicians to defect from the party upon which they were elected to another without consequences.
Executive Director of the coalition Dr. Samson Iroegbunam, described the Court of Appeal ruling as the equivalent of providing cover for illegally as the former lawmakers cannot and should not be allowed to hide under the law that they have no regard for.
In addition, “our Coalition found it confounding that the Court of Appeal gave this ruling, which was based on the logic that only the Federal High Court and no other court has the jurisdiction to determine cases of tenures and vacancies of the House of Assembly, Governors and President and not the State High Courts, even though the Constitution did not make it clear which court should have jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes concerning when an elected office holder should cease to hold office”.
The Coalition further declared that the reinstatement of the former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is against the rule of law, undemocratic, antithetical, retrogressive and provocative to the point of further jeopardising the fragile peace in the state.
It said the ruling, given its controversial nature, has again heightened concerns about the raging allegations that have been made against the Judiciary.
“The Appeal Court has now created new complications with the judicial precedence it has set instead of giving rulings that stabilise Nigeria’s democracy and enhance the rule of law”, he said.
The group urged the people of Rivers State to remain calm as the judgment would not stand the test of time, especially since the democratic-minded stakeholders in the state have indicated that the matter shall be pursued to the Supreme Court until the will of the people of the state is respected.
“Nigerians should stand up to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is in Section 109. (1) (g) clearly stated that ‘A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected”, he also said