"The Court is Right": Lawyer Speaks on Legal Tussle Between Fubara and Pro-Wike Lawmakers
- The Rivers state high court has been commended over its ruling on the PDP membership status of the pro-Nyesom Wike-led House of Assembly
- In an interview with Legit.ng, Okanlawon Gaffar, a lawyer, said there was no written document that the lawmakers left the PDP
- Buttressing his point, the legal practitioner described the situation as over-judicialisation of Nigeria's democracy
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Okanlawon Gaffar, a legal practitioner, has commented on the recent judgment that the pro-Nyesom Wike lawmakers in the Rivers state House of Assembly are still members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Rivers state high court, in a ruling on Monday, June 10, struck out a suit filed by Wosa Amadi and three others seeking to declare the 27 lawmakers' seats vacant following their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2003.
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Why court adjudged pro-Wike lawmakers PDP members
Delivering the judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Okogbule Gbasam, ruled that Martin Amaewhule and the 26 other lawmakers were still members of the PDP.
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He noted that the defection could not be established through newspaper publications, radio announcements or online publications.
According to the court, a defection can only be established through the party membership register, a membership card, and members fulfilling all party membership requirements.
Lawyer speaks on Rivers court judgment
Reacting to the court judgment, Gaffar, in an interview with Legit.ng, said there was no written document to establish that the lawmakers defected from the PDP.
He said:
"The court is right, despite the fact that the so-called members announced that their deflection announced their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the floor of the Rivers state of assembly.
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"There is no record at the ward level that they actually resigned their membership from the PDP and registered their membership at their ward level of the APC. You should understand that politics and political parties, in terms of their renunciation, have to be documented through a letter to the ward level. So, I will say the court is right that any of the state houses of assembly officially renounced their membership from the PDP at the ward level.
"This is an over-judicialisation of our democracy despite the judiciary being essential to any democratic establishment. Our democracy on its own has moved to becoming from the people deciding who represented them to the court determining who represented the people who is there and who is not. We have seen cases from Zamfara, Bayelsa and the rest of them where people who were elected by the people lose their seats."
Rivers: Why Wike is a sleeping lion
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers state and current minister of the FCT, was described as a sleeping tiger.
Okanlawon Gaffar, an analyst who commented on the political crisis in Rivers, said the former governor could be silent, but that did not mean Fubara had defeated him.
Proofreading by James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
