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The antagonists in the political internecine warfare going on in Rivers State presently should not use the judiciary as sacrificial lamb through dragging political motivated cases to the court under the guise of asserting their rights .
The latest injunction obtained on 10 May 2024 in the High Court ,Port Harcourt, by three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly against 25 members of the House, which restrained them from parading and holding out themselves as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly or meeting/sitting at the Auditorium of the House of Assembly Quarters at Aba Road,Port Harcourt or any other place whatsoever to purport to carry out the legislative business of the Rivers State House of Assembly, their legislative sears having been declared vacant pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
This seems to me a dangerous escalation of the intractable crisis that has dogged and engulfed the State since 2023.
It seems to me wrong for three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to use the weapon of a court injunction to prevent 25 members from carrying out their constitutional responsibilities under the guise that their seats have been vacated.
Who vacated the seats of these 25 members?
I know as a fact that in 2023 27 PDP members of the Rivers State House of Assembly defected from the PDP to the APC.
I know as a fact that under the 1999 Constitution, a member of a legislative house that leaves the political party that sponsored his election to join another political party stands to lose his seat.
But the exception is when there is a splinter or crisis in the political party that sponsored his election, his defection would not affect his seat.
Therefore, under the circumstances, could it be said that these 27 other members of the Rivers State House of Assembly that defected from PDP to APC have lost their seat?
This is a legal question under the circumstances that only a court of law can determine.
Therefore, he doesn’t lie in the mouth of the three members of the Rivers State of House of Assembly to determine the fate of their colleagues on the other side.
The Rivers State House of Assembly has a 31 membership strength.
A quorum of one-third of these 31-member House of Assembly is required constitutionally for it to conduct the business of the House.
Accordingly , 10 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is needed to declare the seats of 27 members that defected vacant.
It is illogical or unconstitutional for three or five members to remove 27 members when, in the first place, they can not form a quorum.
I think that the injunction obtained on 10 May 2024 by three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly against 25 other members is a desperate act to ward off the impeachment of Governor Sim Fubara by the majority in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
I think it was a wrongful exercise of discretion by the learned trial Judge to have exercised his discretion in favor of these three members who applied for the order of injunction.
The judge ought to have ordered that the 1st-25th Defendants should put on notice in order to hear their own side.
It was wrong for the judge to have at the level of ex parte application to have agreed with the applicants that these 25 members have lost their seats.
This is the reason why I was saying at the beginning of this write-up that the combatants in Rivers State should not drag the judiciary into their fight.
@ Okoi Obono-Obla
Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Chief OKOI OBONO-OBLA, and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.
