A group, Ethnic Youth Leaders, has rejected in its entirety the ruling of the Supreme Court, which dismissed the judgment of the Court of Appeal on withholding the state’s allocation and ordered the reinstatement of the Martins Amaewhule-led sacked lawmakers.
The representatives of youths across the six geopolitical zones of the country said they wondered why the apex court delivered such a judgment, which amounts to depriving the people of Rivers State of their economic and political rights to receive what is due to them from the federation account.
In a statement issued on Saturday by their zonal coordinators, led by Tochukwu Oha, the youth leaders declared that the judgment was politically motivated. They argued that it was purely political and not legal, stating that the highest court in the land should not have encouraged illegality.
According to them, the judgment was anti-people, against democracy, and contrary to the principles of federalism. They called for its review by relevant authorities to save the judiciary from descending into doldrums.
“We were all taken aback today when the unthinkable happened in our country, no thanks to the Supreme Court. The apex court, in a very curious miscarriage of justice, restored the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria from further releasing monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State government.
“This was against the sound judgment of the three-member panel of the Appeal Court, presided over by Justice Hamman Barka, which held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit seeking to seize Rivers State’s allocation.
“The appellate court had equally ordered that the mere listing of federal agencies does not confer unrestricted jurisdiction on the Federal High Court and that the subject matter, which is the appropriation issue of a state, should not have been entertained.
“While all Nigerians of thought and good conscience believed that this was the right thing and that the Supreme Court would uphold the decision of the Appeal Court, it did otherwise. Instead, it favored the Wike-induced High Court decision and went ahead to order the reinstatement of lawmakers who lost their seats after they jumped ship from the party that brought them into the State Assembly, even while the matter is still subject to litigation.
“This is unacceptable. As ethnic youth leaders, we consider this an affront to the people of Rivers State because their welfare and security—which is the primary aim of government—have been trampled upon by the same judiciary that is touted as the hope of the common man.
“We call on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the National Judicial Council, NJC, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, to review the judgment so that the people of Rivers can enjoy what is due to them from the federation account.”
Rivers crisis: Youth group rejects Supreme Court ruling, calls for review
