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Rivers State attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Mr Dagogo Israel Iboroma, has said that there was no declaration by a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, to the effect that Martin Amaewhule and 26 others are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA).
He stated that misleading news is already in circulation on social and conventional media, claiming that Amaewhule and others are members of the PDP and the House of Assembly. He stressed that the information was meant to deceive the public.
Iboroma, in a statement made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, 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.
The attorney general said he was the third defendant in Suit No. DHC/20/CS/2024, and his attention was drawn to a recent court judgement to that effect.
He explained that the suit in question did not seek to declare the seats of Martin Amaewhule and 26 others in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant.
Iboroma 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 December 11, 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.
“By Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, only the Federal High Court can determine whether Martins Amaewhule and 26 others are still members of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Rivers State House of Assembly. This much was held by the trial court.
“However, you will recall 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 news and misinformation, making the rounds on social, print and electronic media to the effect that Amaewhule and 26 others have been declared as members of the PDP and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
