The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought before it by Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara seeking to remove 27 members of the State House of Assembly on account of their defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Court on Thursday in Abuja said that Fubara has no basis to bring the appeal, having withdrawn his opposition to the case of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers at the Federal High Court in Abuja on alleged intervention by President Bola Tinubu without any document to back up the claim.
Justice Joseph Olubunmi Kayode Oyewole, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the governor, having withdrawn from the case, cannot claim to be aggrieved by the judgment of the Federal High Court, which issued several orders against him.
Consequently, the Court of Appeal barred Fubara from intervening in the affairs of the House of Assembly under Rt. Hon. Amaehule Martins.
The Appellate Court also barred him from withholding the House of Assembly fund and from removing or redeploying the Clerk and Deputy Clerk from the House of Assembly.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal ordered him to re-present the 2024 budget of the State to the House under the recognized Speaker, Amaehule Martins, as contained in the judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court.
Justice Oyewole said that the blunder of Fubara in withdrawing from the suit at the Federal High Court proceedings was so terrible and cannot be redeemed by any known advocacy