• Federal High Court nullifies Edo PDP guber primary
• Appeal Court voids order removing Amaewhule, 24 lawmakers
• Ighodalo remains PDP guber candidate, party insists
• APC urges Ighodalo to withdraw, support Okpebholo
• Chukwuemeka: Pro-Wike victory dance display of ignorance, premature
• G60 federal lawmakers say sacked Rivers Assembly members remain out
• NDC: Rivers judgment marks low point in Nigeria’s democracy
• PDP should expel Wike for ‘seeking to destroy party’, says Adeyanju
Following upsets delivered by courts on political contests in Edo and Rivers states, yesterday’s aggrieved parties have dug further into their trenches, insisting the verdicts changed nothing.
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had invalidated the primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which produced Asue Ighodalo as the party’s candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo.
However, the PDP campaign organisation in Edo State said the ruling did not annul the outcome of the party’s primary election, which produced Ighodalo and his running mate, Osarodion Ogie.
Director General of Edo PDP Campaign Council, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, reacting in Benin, described the judgment as “a strange development, and contrary to a long line of appellate court decisions on the subject.”
He said the ruling would not stand the test of time, adding: “We will ensure that our candidate not only gets justice in the court but also victory in the September governorship election.”
While calling on PDP supporters and party members in the state to remain focused on delivering the governorship candidate in the September 21 election, Iduoriyekemwen said the claim that the party’s candidate had been disqualified was “a complete falsehood.”
The plaintiffs in the suit included Kelvin Mohammed, Gabriel Okoduwa and Ederaho Osagie, on behalf of others in 12 local council areas and 127 wards.
The three aggrieved ad-hoc delegates, on behalf of 378 others, had sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the PDP, its National Secretary and the Vice Chairman (South South) as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.
Justice Ekwo held that the PDP primary, held on February 22, failed to comply with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, guidelines for conduct of the poll, and the party’s constitution.
The court said Exhibit PDP 1, tendered by the party, was bereft of evidence. It held that the plaintiffs, through the exhibits tendered, were able to establish their case against the defendants.
The judge said that from the exhibit presented by the PDP, he found that the returning officers, who prepared the result sheets, only sat down in a place to manufacture the outcome of the poll. He said the exclusion of the 381 delegates, including the plaintiffs, was against the provisions of the law.
Justice Ekwo held that, although INEC, the 1st defendant, filed a memorandum of appearance in the suit, it was unfortunate that the commission did not file any process in the case.
SIMILARLY, the Court of Appeal, yesterday, dismissed the ex parte order given by the Rivers State High Court, in Port Harcourt, on May 10, 2024, stopping Martin Amaewhule from parading himself as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The court also dismissed the decision of the state High Court stopping 24 other members of the Assembly from accessing the complex or carrying out any legislative assignment in the name of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The appellate court, in determining the issue of jurisdiction of a lower court to hear and also grant and ex parte orders, held that the Federal High Court is exclusively and mandatorily the only court that could hear such matters and not a state High Court, citing section 273 of the Constitution.
The three-man panel, led by Justice Jimi Olukayode-Bada, therefore upheld the appeal filed by a factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule and 24 others, against the Speaker, Victor Oko Jumbo, and two others.
Justice Olukayode-Bada, in the lead judgement, declared the suit marked PAC/1512/CS/2024 null and void, and ordered the appellants to revert to their positions in the Assembly.
He said the orders made by the trial court were without jurisdiction and therefore amounted to a nullity. He also said that courts must restrict themselves to jurisdiction allocated to them in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
Besides jurisdictional issues, Justice Olukayode-Bada said the argument by the respondents that the issue in question was of utmost urgency, was self-inflicted because the issue arose on December 11, 2024 but respondents obtained the ex-parte order on May 8, 2024.
BUT reacting, a coalition of House of Representatives members, known as G60, yesterday, insisted the Rivers State House of Assembly members loyal to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, remained sacked.
Spokesperson of the coalition, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, at a press conference held at the National Assembly in Abuja, argued that contrary to notions held in certain quarters, the Appeal Court didn’t void declaration of the seats of the pro-Wike sacked lawmakers as vacant.
Reacting to the ruling, Ugochinyere stressed that the seats of the pro-Wike lawmakers remained vacant as the Appeal Court didn’t decide on the validity of their illegal decamp or the declaration of their seats vacant.
According to him, the Appeal Court focused on declaring that the Federal High Court is the only court with the jurisdiction to decide on the legality or illegality of decamping, thereby ruling against the Rivers High Court proceedings.
He further stressed that the legal fireworks continue, as the declaration on the vacant seats is still valid and is a subject of pending litigation.
He said: “The actions of the House formerly led by Ehi in declaring the seat vacant have not been declared null and void by any court. Oko Jumbo remains the Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Also, the tenure of the local council chairmen, which has since expired, remains expired, and can’t be extended and was never extended. There’s nothing like tenure extension in a democratic setting; it’s like a coup taking over constitutional governance.”
ALSO, a former Minister of Transportation, Eze Chukwuemeka, explained that the ruling did not give pro-Wike lawmakers the leeway to return to the Assembly.
Eze said: “The Court of Appeal only ruled that the Rivers State High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain and issue the ex parte order stopping Martin Amaewhule from parading himself as
Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, as such issue can only be entertained by the Federal High Court and not the State High Court.
“The Federal High Court didn’t entertain the major subject matter of Amaewhule and his group defecting from PDP to APC which caused them to cease as lawmakers.
“The fact is that the Appeal Court ruling only succeeded in giving room for the defection of these ex-lawmakers to be re-tabled, and proper ruling given either by the Appeal Court or the Supreme Court.”
He added: “These ex-lawmakers and their group celebrating a ruling that didn’t give them leeway is nothing but a celebration of ignorance.”
MEANWHILE, responding to the verdict on the Edo State PDP guber primary, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state called on Ighodalo to team up with the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, for the progress of the state.
In a statement signed by the Director, Publicity Committee, APC Governorship Campaign Council, Orobosa Omo-Ojo, the opposition party said: “The news of the disqualification of Ighodalo as the PDP candidate has been received by Edo people as relief from imposition of forgery and continuation of self-serving governance in our state.
“APC, as a progressive party, is calling on Ighodalo to join hands with Okpebholo to retake the state and reset it for prosperity.”
ALSO, Okpebholo said: “The court has saved Edo people from another four years of pains and agonies. The PDP is not a democratic party. It operates like a Mafia organisation.
“What they called primaries was a far cry. The party, with just two months to a crucial election, is unable to put its house in order. We call on Edo people to rally round me and my party, the APC, to bring back the lost glory of the state.”
Okpebholo said his administration will commit to bringing back the good old days. He said: “Since the exit of Adams Oshiomhole as Governor of Edo State, our people have not had any reason to celebrate. That will change in September, when the people take power back through the ballot.”
He added: “Edo State has been cut off from the centre for far too long. We can see this from the level of abandonment. We need to return Edo State to the centre and enjoy all the benefits that we truly deserve. We are optimistic.
“With this judgment, Edo people can clearly see that the PDP is a chaotic party and can’t be allowed to continue to lead our dear state. With the APC, I assure you of the best.”
IN further reaction to the ruling on Rivers State, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, Tony Okocha, danced away at the news, flanked by supporters.
At the party’s secretariat complex, he said the judgment was welcome, and was a big lesson to many, adding: “It means, Amaewhule remains the Speaker of the State House of Assembly and can resume sitting, and that all actions taken by the Victor Oko Jumbo-led Assembly is null and void.”
ALSO, the National Democratic Coalition (NDC) described the judgment on Rivers State as a low point in Nigeria’s democracy, saying the court had given a licence to politicians to defect from the party upon which they were elected to another, without consequences.
Executive Director, Dr Samson Iroegbunam, described the ruling as the equivalent of providing cover for illegality, stressing that the former lawmakers should not have been allowed to hide under the law for which they had no regard.
He said: “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, even though the Constitution did not make it clear which court should have jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes concerning when an elected officeholder should cease to hold office.
“The Appeal Court has now created new complications with the judicial precedent it has set, instead of giving rulings that stabilise Nigeria’s democracy and enhance the rule of law.”
The coalition 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.
IN the same vein, a popular activist and lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, claimed the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, was working hard to destroy the PDP.
Adeyanju warned that if the PDP failed to expel Wike, the minister would ensure the party had no candidate to face President Bola Tinubu in 2027. Posting on X, the rights lawyer wrote: “Wike is working hard to ensure PDP does not have a presidential candidate against Tinubu.
“Wike was the one who engineered, and is backing all those who went to court in Edo. Until the hungry PDP leadership grows some balls and expels Wike, so he can fully join APC, I support him to keep destroying the PDP.”
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