• 27 Lawmakers
• Fubara
• Rivers State
• Supreme Court

SUPREME COURT DISMISSES GOV FUBARA’S SUIT AGAINST PRO-WIKE 27 RIVERS LAWMAKERS

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  Nicolas Adekeye / 4 weeks
• 0
• 2 min read

The Supreme Court has dismissed a suit filed by Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, seeking to remove 27 members of the State House of Assembly for allegedly defecting from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The court’s decision follows the withdrawal of the appeal by Fubara’s lead counsel, Yusuf Ali SAN, who cited that “events have overtaken” the suit. Justice Musa Uwani-Aba-Aji delivered the ruling, dismissing the suit after Fubara’s counsel withdrew the appeal. The Rivers State House of Assembly and its Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, represented by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, did not oppose the withdrawal but demanded an outright dismissal of the suit. The court agreed, awarding N4 million against Fubara to be paid to the House of Assembly and Amaewhule. According to Ken Njemanze, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the dismissal clears the way for the 27 lawmakers to take over the House of Assembly fully. Njemanze stated that all steps taken by Fubara in the absence of the 27 lawmakers, including the presentation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets to only three lawmakers, have become null and void. This development comes after the Court of Appeal dismissed Fubara’s appeal on the same matter on October 10, 2024. The Federal High Court in Abuja had also nullified the passage of Rivers State’s N800 billion 2024 budget by four members of the House of Assembly on January 22, 2024.