Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Dagogo Israel Iboroma, SAN, has said that there was no declaration to the effect that Martin Amaewhule and 26 others are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA).
Iboroma stated that there is already a misleading news in circulation on social and conventional media that Amaewhule and others are members of the PDP and RSHA, stressing that the information is meant to deceive the public.
The Rivers State Attorney-General, therefore, urged members of the public to disregard such news already making the rounds on social, print, and electronic media, emphasising that the entirety of the news is not true and has no basis in law.
Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt on Monday, the Rivers State Attorney-General said, as the 3rd defendant in Suit No. DHC/20/CS/2024, his attention was drawn to a recent judgment of the court to that effect.
But Iboroma explained that the suit in question, did not seek to declare the seats of Martin Amaewhule and 26 others in Rivers State House of Assembly vacant.
Rather, he said: “The suit of the claimants was struck out for want of locus standi and jurisdiction and also for being an abuse of court process which robbed the trial court of jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter.
“As you all know, Martins Amaewhule and 26 others defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress on the 11th Day of December, 2023, and stated that much in affidavit evidence deposed to by Martins Amaewhule for himself and on behalf of 26 others in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/1681/CS/2023 before Hon. Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division. The Suit is still pending in court.”
The Rivers State Attorney-General explained further: “By Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it is only the Federal High Court that can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still members of Peoples Democratic Party and also members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This much was held by the trial court.
“However, you will recall that there is a subsisting order of interlocutory injunction in Suit No.
PHC/1512/CS/2024, restraining Martins Amaewhule and his co-travellers from further parading or presenting themselves as lawmakers in Rivers State pending the determination of the substantive suit, which has not been appealed against till date,” he added.
He, therefore, urged the public to disregard the fake news and misinformation presently making the rounds on social, print and electronic media to the effect that Martins Amaewhule and 26 others have been declared as members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Ministry of Justice
Rivers State Secretariat Complex
Port Harcourt
June 10, 2024.
