The Court docket of Attraction in Abuja has constituted a particular three-member panel to deal with political instances from Rivers State, with sittings scheduled to start on Thursday, November 14.
This transfer follows the escalating authorized tussles stemming from a rift between Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, the present Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The feud has led to a surge of authorized instances from the state, creating factions amongst political actors and leading to conflicting judgments from courts of comparable authority — a problem that has drawn criticism from each judiciary stakeholders and the general public.
In an effort to streamline the decision of those disputes, Court docket of Attraction President Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem appointed a particular panel to supervise all appeals associated to the political disaster in Rivers.
The panel, headed by Justice Onyekachi Otisi with Justices Misitura Bokaji-Yusuf and James Abundaga, will deal with instances that contain key political figures and factions inside the state.
Among the many appeals set to be heard is one filed by Governor Fubara and the Rivers State Home of Meeting, alongside instances involving each the Peoples Democratic Occasion and the All Progressives Congress relating to the alleged defection of 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike from the PDP to the APC.
Throughout proceedings on Monday, a panel of the court docket adjourned three appeals, together with one filed by the Rivers State Authorities towards the Rivers State Home of Meeting and others, to be heard by the brand new particular panel.
The presiding Justice Hamma Barka famous, “The attraction, marked CA/ABJ/PRE/ROA/CV/1211m1/2024, is among the many Rivers issues for which a particular panel was constituted.”
Senior lawyer Chief Paul Erokoro, representing the appellant, knowledgeable the court docket of plans to make sure that all respondents who had not but been served would obtain vital paperwork earlier than Thursday.
He additionally famous that he had simply obtained some filings from the respondents and wanted time to organize his response.
Counsel for the primary and second respondents, Ferdinand Orbih (SAN) and Dr. Joshua Musa (SAN), representing further respondents, agreed to the adjournment request for November 14.
Two different instances—one by the Accountant Basic of Rivers State towards the Rivers State Home of Meeting and one other by the Motion Peoples Occasion towards the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee and others—had been additionally adjourned to Thursday for listening to by the Otisi-led particular panel.
The institution of this panel goals to supply a transparent and expedited decision to the political disputes, marking a important step towards restoring order amid Rivers State’s ongoing political upheaval.
