How Fubara's Defeat Shapes Rivers' Legislative Future

The Supreme Court in Abuja has rejected an appeal that Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara brought contesting the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

A five-member panel headed by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji on Monday also ordered Fubara to pay N2 million to the Assembly and Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker Martin Amaewhule.

Following the withdrawal of the lawsuit by Fubara's attorney, Yusuf Ali, the matter was dismissed.

Recall that Fubara was reprimanded by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on October 10, 2024, for his acts that did not adhere to the rule of law.

The court determined that he had flagrantly violated the 1999 Constitution, as amended, by presenting the 2024 Rivers State Appropriation Bill to only four of the Assembly's thirty-one members.

According to the court, it was against the Nigerian Constitution to propose the budget to only four members.

The Rivers State Appropriation Bill was hastily submitted by the appellant to four members, who subsequently reviewed, discussed, and signed it into law in a matter of hours, the statement continued.

Additionally, the court determined that Fubara's acts were in violation of Section 96 of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that a quorum must be formed by at least one-third of the Assembly members.

"By no means can four out of thirty-one members constitute the necessary quorum for legislative business," the court stated.

In the meantime, Fubara's presentation of the 2024 budget to the four-member Assembly, which was presided over by Edison Ehie, was rejected by Federal High Court Justice James Omotosho.

The Rivers State House of Assembly's leadership instability led to the budget presentation. Following its split from the People's Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress, Fubara had maintained that the Amaewhule-led fraction had lost its credibility.

The lower courts, however, decided that he was unable to legitimately propose the budget to a four-member House because he had not produced proof of their defection.

After the Court of Appeal's decision, Fubara petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court's decision and give him permission to deliver the budget to the faction led by Ehie.

However, Yusuf Ali, Fubara's attorney, told the Supreme Court that the governor had chosen to drop the appeal when the case was summoned on Monday.

Ali said that a notice had already been submitted on February 6th, stating that events had taken precedence over the appeal.

The withdrawal was not opposed by any of the case's 17 respondents, who were all represented by different attorneys. But Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who represented the first and second respondents (Rivers State House of Assembly and Amaewhule), and J.B. Daudu (SAN), who represented the third to twelfth respondents (National Assembly and its leadership), asked for N2 million.

Furthermore, since the issues had already been joined, Daudu requested the court to reject the appeal rather than strike it out.

After ascertaining that there was no opposition to the withdrawal, the five-member Supreme Court bench dismissed the appeal.

In a succinct decision, Justice Abba-Aji ruled that the appeal was denied and granted the first through twelfth respondents a N2 million cost.