Rivers State leaders, alleging that President Bola Tinubu forced Governor Siminilaya Fubara to sign an illegal agreement, have taken President Tinubu to the Federal High Court in Abuja. They contend that the agreement, which was signed on December 18, was not only unlawful but also a usurpation, nullification, and undermining of the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Consequently, the plaintiffs, led by Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O. P. Fingesi, Ann Kio Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma, are pleading with the court to determine whether President Tinubu, Governor Fubara, and the Rivers State Assembly have the right and are entitled to enter into any agreement that has the effect of nullifying or undermining the constitution and provisions of Section 109(I)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
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They argue that neither Governor Fubara nor President Tinubu have the legal authority to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from holding new elections to replace the 27 legislators from Rivers State.
The state house of assembly was divided into two factions due to the disagreement between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike. Of the two factions, 27 defected from the PDP to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while the Edison Ehie group declared the 27 members’ seats vacant.
Nonetheless, President Tinubu met with Fubara and Wike on Monday at the Aso Villa in Abuja. Following their meeting, the President issued a directive to the warring parties to withdraw all cases brought before the courts by Fubara and his team, as well as to recognise Martin Amaewhule’s leadership in the Rivers State House of Assembly rather than Edison Ehie’s.
