The Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule and 26 other members of the State House of Assembly were reminded by the Rivers State Caucus in the National Assembly that they had lost their seats as a result of switching from the PDP to the APC.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
The embattled 27 lawmakers who were loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, were reminded by Caucus leader Hon. Awaji-Inombek D. Abiante, who spoke to reporters in Port Harcourt on Monday, that their defection to the APC was unrelated to the ruling of a Federal High Court heard by Hon. Justice Omotosho.
In a recent speech to journalists, Abiante accused some members of the Rivers State Caucus in the National Assembly of trying to mislead the public, saying: “A visit and press conference by some members of the Rivers State National Assembly in sympathy with former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, and his group-committee of former lawmakers was recently brought to our attention.” The group claimed at the press conference “to put a stop to the falsehood and misrepresentation of facts on the judgments of courts as it affects the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Governor of Rivers State.”
However, the reality is that the press conference’s goal was to deceive the public about the actual situation in Rivers State, notwithstanding the group’s bogus assertion. Therefore, we must correct the record and put the people in the right frame of mind since uncontested lies quickly trump the truth. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes, as Mark Twain famously stated.
“To correct the record, the actual stance on the applicability of His Lordship, Hon. Justice Omotosho’s ruling in the matter of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Assembly versus the Rivers State House of Assembly (SUIT NO: FHC/ABJ/CS/1613/2023),
is as follow:
“The status of Rt Hor Martin Amaewhule and his gang of 27 as former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is not addressed in the ruling of Hon. Justice Omotosho; Following their voluntary defection/cross-carpeting on the House of Assembly floor in full public view on December 11, 2023, Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule and 26 other individuals were stripped of their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The legal ramifications of these clauses and the rulings of the Supreme Court are that, as of December 11, 2023, when Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule read out the defection letters of himself and twenty-six other people on the floor of the Rivers State House of Assembly, they were automatically and formally declared former members of the House and lost their seats.
It is important to note that neither the fact of their defection nor any issue pertaining to their status as former lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly was brought up, submitted, or discussed in the proceedings leading up to Hon. Justice Omotosho’s judgment on January 22, 2024. “The only legal implication of the above is that Hon. Martins Amaewhule and his group of 27 remain former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and as such are no longer entitled to parade themselves as members of the House or participate in any business or affair of the House.”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
