Rivers Political Crisis: Supreme Court Ruling, NJC and The Rest Of Us

In the history of our politics and under the present democratic dispensation since 1999, perhaps no state has faced as many court cases in the struggle for control of political power and/or state resources as Rivers State under Governor Similayi Fubara, all orchestrated by one man who not only wants to hijack total control of the state resources but also wants to be worshiped as a demi-god.

We now have a situation where some people interpret the law to suit their selfish interests. The Rivers state crisis was a straightforward case, yet federal officials complicated it with unnecessary legal manipulations.

What sort of judgment subjects people to extreme misery—no federal allocation, no salaries, no infrastructure, no food, and no hope of knowing when the clampdown would be over?

In the first instance, why would the immediate past governor of the state, Nyesom Wike and his co-travellers be celebrating a court judgement that effectively deprives their state of its financial entitlements, a situation that would for sure plunge the state into severe socio-economic crisis? Did such action not exposed the political underpinnings of the legal battle which has been alleged to solely border on the control or rather hijack of the state resources?

How could any sane person be rejoicing that statutory allocations meant for their state is being cut off? So their gree-die fight against the incumbent governor, Fubara, is not for the welfare and wellbeing of the Rivers people because they are the ones that would be affected by this interesting Supreme Court sanction.

There is hardly any precedence in our country where a sitting governor is reduced to an errand or rather house boy. The prestige that goes with the office forbids that to be the case. Not until he enjoys the freedom the office confers on him, there may never be peace.

Recall that the lingering crisis in Rivers State between the former governor, Nyesom Wike and his erstwhile political godson, Similayi Joseph Fubara, climaxed on October 30, 2023 when Amaewhule, the erstwhile Speaker led 26 other members of the State House of Assembly to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC from their original Peoples Democratic Party, PDP platform.

As a close watcher of the Rivers unsavoury political events orchestrated by Wike, I can tell you that Nigerians, home and abroad, watched their declarations for the APC on national televisions. The clip exists even on social media and enough to serve as documentary evidence. It was a terribly miscalculated move by the dissident former lawmakers which was only realized after the mistake has been made.

And as described by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, in a press statement in Abuja, the Apex Court’s judgement on the Rivers state crisis is “miscarriage of justice and a clear contradiction of established legal precedents as it raises concerns over judicial inconsistency and perceived political interference in the country’s judicial system.”

According to HURIWA, “By making such pronouncements without a clear legal determination on the defection issue, the Supreme Court’s ruling raises serious questions about the selective application of justice.”

HURIWA further argued that: “In the case of Hon. Michael Dapianlong & Ors v. Chief (Dr) Joshua Chibi Dariye & Anor, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a reduced number of legislators could validly impeach a governor.

The case arose when 14 out of 24 members of the Plateau State House of Assembly defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the Action Congress (AC), leaving only 10 members in the House, and eight of these 10 members subsequently initiated and carried out impeachment proceedings against Governor Joshua Dariye.

The Supreme Court held that the impeachment was unconstitutional, emphasizing that until the vacancies created by the defecting members were filled through by-elections, the House could not validly conduct impeachment proceedings.”

So how else can anybody explain the apex court ruling on the Rivers crisis if not to say it was an unconstitutional deliberate attempt to destabilize the democratically elected government of Governor Fubara, just to please one man who has an over-bloated image of himself.

Interestingly, since the Apex Court ruling, the dissident ex-lawmakers and their boss have been carrying on and making statements to show they have conquered Rivers state and its people. Where did the 26 ex-legislators derive the audacity and boldness with which they were issuing ultimatum to the state governor as though they were in a military regime? They should be told in a plain language that their actions lacked constitutional validity and judicial backing.

Until the Supreme Court makes the final ruling on the defection case, the only in the bouquet of cases from Rivers state that has been kept in view by the apex court, the pro-Wike’s lawmakers had no legal authority to issue instructions or make demands on the governor.

Can you imagine that the Supreme Court in its lead judgment could suggest that the 26 lawmakers loyal to Nyesom Wike ought to have been the forum for presenting the disputed Rivers state 2025 appropriation when the matter of their defection has yet to be ruled on by the same Supreme Court?

As rightly remarked by HURIWA, the Rivers State Government’s decision to place the administration of the 23 local government councils under the Heads of Local Government Administration (HLGAs) pending the conduct of fresh elections by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC). This move aligns with previous judicial interpretations, which have ruled out caretaker committees as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court has shown guts in reaching a decision in all the issues concerning Rivers State but one that is before it. The apex court is also expected to show the same guts when it visits the case of defection of the 26 former members of the State House of Assembly.

To deny or lie that there was no defection is what the Supreme Court must also decide once all available facts are laid before it. Technicalities should play no part if we desire justice. Oral or written declarations is not what is in contention. What is in contention is if some or the majority of Rivers State legislators made a collective declaration defecting to another political party.

As an urgent and seriously needed service to the nation, the National Judicial Council (NJC) should step in to scrutinise the inconsistencies in the Supreme Court’s rulings to ensure that the judiciary remains a neutral and independent arbiter of justice rather than a tool for political manipulations because selective application of judicial precedents poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s democracy and must not be allowed to stand.

And without mincing words, it will be in the interest of President Bola Tinubu not to allow despotic and unpatriotic elements in and around his government, from the National Assembly to his cabinet, to continue to ridicule and/or derail Nigeria’s democracy. This is the truth!

(IFEANYI IZEZE wrote from Port Harcourt: [email protected])