Boma Achenimie 
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana has revealed that the Supreme Court verdict on the appeal filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State against the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly does not affect who is the authentic Speaker of the House.
New Telegraph recalls that Governor Fubara, in 2024, declared the seats of 27 lawmakers led by Amaewhule vacant following their defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Court of Appeal, in July 2024, nullified the expulsion of the lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
However, dissatisfied with the judgement, the Governor appealed the suit at the Supreme Court and on Monday the apex court dismissed the appeal after the governor’s lawyer withdrew the case, stating that events had overtaken it.
According to reports, the judgement put to rest the issues surrounding the position of the 27 lawmakers, who had been entangled in a prolonged legal and political battle with the governor.
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Addressing journalists after the ruling, Ken Njemanze, a Senior Nigerian advocate, stated that the lawmakers could now fully assume their roles in the state assembly.
However, in an interview with Channels TV, Falana insisted that the lawmakers remained sacked, stressing that “once you decamp, you automatically lose your seat.”
According to Falana, the only case on the matter is currently pending in the Port Harcourt judicial division of the Federal High Court.
“The case was earlier adjourned to Monday, 17th February, for them to justify why they should be parading themselves as lawmakers after jumping from their party to another,” he said.
According to him: “The Supreme Court made it clear in this case that if you defect when your party has not broken down, you have lost your seat. There was no factionalisation in the party when they decamped.
“If you are saying that the PDP now has two chairmen, two national secretaries, and parallel officers at the national level, then you can say, ‘Oh, our party has been fictionalised, I can now move.’ But that was not the case with the PDP.”
