The political camp of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja was on Thursday thrown into jubilation following the judgement of the Appeal Court that returned Martins Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers as Speaker and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Supporters of the Minister were seen rolling out drums to celebrate the judgement and vibing to spontaneous songs of praise they composed for the Minister.
Some of the elected chairmen contesting tenure elongation were said to be particularly happy about the judgement as they believed that it had given them a lease of life.
The ousted Chairmen of Emohua and Ikwerre local government areas, Dr. Chidi Lloyd and Chief Samuel Nwanosike, said the judgement had invalidated every decision and approval Governor Siminialayi Fubara took relying on the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led lawmakers.
Lloyd, who commended the judiciary for upholding the constitution and deepening democracy with its ruling, said the judge at the lower court, who created the confusion should not be allowed to go free.
He argued that that order that stripped Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers of their statuses was capable of creating anarchy and causing bloodshed in the state.
Lloyd said: “The issues are clear. We first give glory to God. We continue to have hope in the judiciary. The judiciary will continue to be the last hope of the common man.
“The laws are clear. It is not a respecter of anybody and it will not change because you are President or governor or chairman or senator. The law is clear. When once a court has no jurisdiction to hear a matter, everything it has done is null and void. That is what the court has said.
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“The court has also affirmed the position of Martins Amaewhule, which was not disputed. Amaewhule has at all times remain the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“My only regret is that the judge who would have thrown this state into a state of anarchy should not be allowed to walk about freely because if anybody had died it would have been as a result of the decision of the judge.
“That is why people, who are called to the bench must be above board because they are playing the roles of God on earth and their functions must be discharged with a lot of caution. The judge has made people to think that they are Attorney-General, commissioners, speaker and caretaker committee members. The court has described all of that as exercise in futility”.
Lloyd observed that the judgement has far-reaching consequences on the the tenure elongation dispute, which he said remained a subject of litigation in many other suits.
He said he and his colleagues would not be in a hurry to take advantage of the judgement to return to their offices, until the court of appealed ruled on the specific matter.
Lloyd said: “This particular judgement has consequences on the tenure elongation of the chairmen. If it were the other way round, it means that all that Martins Amaewhule and his colleagues had done would have been null and void.
“But because the court had said that Martins Amaewhule is at all times the speaker, everything he had done including the amendment to the 2018 law stands. The issue of the tenure of local government chairmen is still subject of litigation at various levels of court. The hearing continues today at the court of appeal.
“The full decision of the court of appeal had not been seen. The issues of whether there was a House when the law was made and whether Amaewhule and his colleagues are still members of the House and can discharge the functions of the House have been resolved in the affirmative; that everything they have done is the law”.
On the police continuous occupation of the local government secretariats, Lloyd said: ” What the police do in the state of dispute is to ensure that lives and properties are safeguarded. The court has taken a decision on who the speaker is.
“It is just a little while the judgement on the other matter will be given. If Oko-Jumbo was not the speaker, everything he did including the screening of the purported caretaker committee members is null and void and of no effect.
*They should immediately stop parading themselves as local government chairmen. Even those commissioners screened by him and any approval made by him are all nullified. It has far-reaching consequences”.
On his part, Nwanosike appealed to the governor and his supporters to obey the judgement insisting that disobeying it would have serious consequences.
He said: “I thank the Almighty God for a day like this. It is obviously stated by the Lordship of the Court of Appeal that we run a constitutional democracy and our laws are sacrosanct. The laws are not ambiguous. They are self-explanatory.
“You can’t put something on nothing and expect it to stand. When the law comes illegality, noisemaking and ethnicity will give way. When the law comes those, who think that governance is a joke will soon realize that governance is a serious business.
“So, we thank our Lordship for strengthening the law and deepening the democracy we are practising. People should realize that it doesn’t have to do with your office. The constitution remains the grund norm. For those who the law did not favour today should understand that disobeying legitimate rules and orders of court has consequences and penalties in the future.
“We want to advise them to obey the law and allow the three arms and tiers of government to function in accordance with the law. The court of appeal voided everything they did from inauguration of Attorney-General, commissioners and caretaker committee chairmen.”
On whether they would return to their offices following the judgement, Nwanosike said: “The law is clear you can’t put something on nothing and expect it to stand. The Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly is the authentic House of Assembly and the laws they make for Rivers State must be obeyed by everybody including the governor of Rivers.
“We want to hear from the Rivers State House of Assembly. They will give direction and we will obey them. We have other pending matters in court and we expect those rulings to come because we are law-abiding people”.
Though the state government was yet to officially react on the matter, supporters of the governor had given it a different interpretation saying it only asked the parties to return to the Federal High Court.