…insists Amaewhule, others no longer Assembly members
The Rivers State Government condemned a press conference held by some Rivers lawmakers and former legislators at the National Assembly in Abuja on Monday, in solidarity with Speaker Martins Amaewhule.
The government in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Warisenibo Johnson, alleged that the press conference was designed to mislead the public on the true situation of the ongoing crisis in the state.
Johnson said the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was law-abiding, peace-loving, and respected the court and the country’s judiciary. He added that the governor took an oath to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.
He said the governor had not engaged any person or group of persons to mislead the public or to twist the state of affairs in Rivers especially as it related to the 22nd January 2024 judgment of Hon Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Johnson said Omotosho’s judgment remained so crystal clear that only enemies of progress could pretend not to know the facts and extent of application of the ruling.
He maintained that the judgment, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal did not touch nor alter the status of Martin Amaewhule and 27 others, whom he referred to as former members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State.
He insisted that Amaewhule and 26 others had lost their seats following their voluntary defections, which happened on the floor of the House of Assembly in the full glare of the public on 11th December 2023.
He said the Supreme Court in a plethora of cases while interpreting the provisions of Section 109(1)(g) and Section 68(1)(g) of the Constitution had held that “an elected lawmaker in Nigeria who after an election on the platform of a particular political party, defects to another political party, automatically loses his seat in the affected legislative House from the date of his or her defection”.
Johnson said the pronouncements of the Supreme Court in such cases, having not been set aside nor overruled in any subsequent judgment remained the law to date on issues of the defection of a member of a legislative House in Nigeria.
Johnson said: “The legal effect of these provisions and the Supreme Court judgments is that, as of 11th December 2023 when Hon. Martin Amaewhule read out the letters of defection of both himself and 26 others on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Martin Amaewhule and members of his group had lost their seats and automatically and mandatorily become ex-members of the House.
e. This being the position, it is clear beyond any shred of doubt that as of 29th November 2023 when Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1613/2023 (Rivers House of Assembly Vs the National Assembly was initiated before the Federal High Court presided over by Hon Justice Omotosho, Hon Martin Amaewhule, and his group had mandatorily become former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly;
“The only legal implication of the above is that unless there is a court pronouncement (coming after 11th December 2023) setting aside or otherwise nullifying the 11th December 2023 defection of Hon Martin Amaewhule and his group of 27, they remain ex-members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and accordingly are no longer entitled to parade themselves as members of the House or to partake in any businesses or affairs of the House.
“It is even a criminal offence under Section 99 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, for Hon Martin Amaewhule and any members of his group of 27 ex-lawmakers to purport to parade themselves as members and or to take part in any proceedings of the House.
“Unfortunately for Rt Hon Martin Amaewhule and his group, neither the fact of their defection nor any issue relating to their defection nor the issue of their status as ex-members of the House nor of the legal effects of the said defection was/were raised, submitted and or discussed in the proceedings leading to the 22 January 2024 judgment of Hon Justice Omotosho.
“In that case, Hon Martin Amaewhule and his group (who initiated the lawsuit as claimants) had worked so hard to hide from the Honourable Court, the fact of their earlier defection and its legal effect which is that they were no longer members of the House as of the date of commencement of the lawsuit.
“It was based on such deception that Hon Justice Omotosho gave its judgment which completely left out the relevant issues and facts. Thus, since the fact of defection and its legal effects were not raised nor argued nor determined in the case, the judgment of Hon Justice Omotosho is the legal authority for only the facts in the issue and the issues for determination in that case, none of which touches on, nor relates to their defection and its effect which is an automatic and mandatory loss of their seats.
“The effect of their deceptive overtures in the case is that the judgment is unhelpful to them regarding the issue of their defection evidence of which abounds. Instead of placing before the Federal High Court, the truth and material facts about their status as ex-lawmakers, to afford the Honourable Court an opportunity to decide on the real issues, the claimants in that case (Hon Amaewhule and co) had craftily invented lies and falsehood calculated to mislead the Hon Court into deciding an issue that is not at all in dispute.
“Unfortunately for them, Truth exists and does not go away just because one has invented lies. In Elvis Pasley’s words, ‘Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away’. No matter how fast a lie runs, the truth will someday overtake it. The truth is that the Judgment is legal authority for only what was decided in it, and not for what was not decided in it”.
Johnson said another material fact in the state was whether the remaining minority lawmakers could carry on with businesses of the House after the majority had automatically and mandatorily lost their seats by their voluntary defections.
He said the issue was not raised nor discussed in the Hon Justice Omotosho’s judgment which was thus inapplicable in the circumstance.
He said: “The rule that applies in the circumstance was as laid down by His Lordship, the Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen, JSC (as he then was) while delivering the lead judgment in the Supreme case of Dapianlong Vs. Dariye when he declared that ‘there is no doubt that there existed in the Plateau State House of Assembly 14 vacant seats as a result of cross carpeting. It is my view that until the vacancies created by the carpet crossing members are filled by the process of the by-election, the Plateau State House of Assembly can only transact such legislative duties that require the participation of less than 2/3 majority of all the members of that House, which duties excludes impeachment proceedings.”
Johnson said the governor would continue to uphold the Nigerian Constitution and the rule of law in Rivers insisting that Fubara had never disrespected the court of law.
He said: “We, therefore, call on the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the National Judicial Council, the Chief Justice of the Federation, the Inspector General of Police, all institutions in Nigeria, as well as well-meaning Nigerians to ignore the mischievous and deliberate misrepresentation of the facts and the effect of the judgment of Hon Justice Omotosho on the situation in Rivers State by Hon Amaewhule and co”.
