COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE RIVERS STATE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CAUCUS

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE RIVERS STATE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CAUCUS

Gentlemen of the press.

1. We have invited you this morning to extinguish the delusion,  prevarication, lies, and the deliberate distortion of facts and judgements of courts as it affects the Rivers State House of Assembly under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, the Governor of Rivers State.

2. This has become very necessary as the governor has procured the services of some persons, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria, to turn the law and judgments of court upside down to skew public opinion to align with the Governor’s position and give him a reason not to obey any judgment of court that is against him or not in his favour. 

3. We wish to caution Mr. Femi Falana SAN, to stop misinterpreting judgments of court. It is regrettable that a very senior lawyer of his status will be amplifying the falsehood from  non-lawyers and political merchants.

Falana, lied about the dates of the judgment of Hon. Justice J.K. Omotosho and the purported defection that never took place with the intention of misleading the public.

We wish to warn these false content creators and political merchants that it is very possible to continue to eat from the treasury of Rivers State without tampering with the position of the law, and the intentional misinterpretation of judgment of courts.

4. For the records, there were several reliefs aside from the presentation of the 2024 budget sought by the Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule led Assembly before the Hon. Justice J.K. Omotosho, which included the determination of who is the speaker and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly; non interference by the governor of Rivers State with the activities and functions of the Martin’s led Assembly;  protection by the Inspector General of Police to ensure adequate security for them to carry out their duties; and the disbandment of any other House of Assembly in Rivers State or Self-acclaimed Speaker other than Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule and the 27 members.

5. All the reliefs sought by Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule were granted by the Hon. Justice J. K. Omotosho on the 22nd of January 2024.

We hereby produce the orders of the Hon. Justice J. K. Omotosho, as affirmed by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. 
We refer the Press to pages 6 to 16 of the Judgement.

6. It’s instructive to state emphatically that by the withdrawal of the Governor’s appeal before the Supreme Court and the dismissal of the suit with cost, the judgment and all orders made by Hon. Justice J. K. Omotosho, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal, takes effect immediately and forever. This, of course, includes the affirmation of Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewule as Speaker and the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as the ONLY House of Assembly of Rivers State and the directive to the Inspector General of Police to provide security to enable the Rivers State House of Assembly to continue to perform their functions without hindrance.

7. We wish to call the attention of the Governor of Rivers State, that in his Notice of Withdrawal before the Supreme Court, he rightly referred to Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewule as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. Therefore, there is no more contest as to who the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly is. And any attempt to continue to deal with any person or forum as the Rivers State House of Assembly is not only contemptuous of the judgment of the Supreme Court but a direct call for political anarchy or social lawlessness. 
The shameless and contemptuous actions of giving any assignment whatsoever to anybody purporting same to be Rivers State House of Assembly other than Rt. Hon. Martins. Amaewule led House of Assembly should stop forthwith. 

8. The Governor of Rivers State having failed to use the Court of Justice Wali to unseat the 27 lawmakers, has initiated a plot at a Federal High Court in Rivers State to declare the seats of the Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewule and the 27 members vacant, even when a Federal High Court, Appeal Court and the Supreme Court have all affirmed Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewule and the 27 lawmakers as the only Rivers State House of Assembly.

9. We are calling on the Executive Arm to execute the judgment of the Court of Appeal, affirming Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewule and the 27 lawmakers as the only Rivers State House of Assembly to avoid any breakdown of law and order in Rivers State.

Signed:
1- REP. O.K. CHINDA, DSSRS
(Minority Leader)  

2- SEN. BARIUADA MPIGI, DSSRS 
(NASS Rivers Caucus Leader)
 

3- RT. HON. DUNAMENE DEKOR, DSSRS
(Leader, Rivers State Caucus House of Representatives.)

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