The appellate court’s decision overturned an earlier ruling by the Rivers State High Court, which had ordered the expulsion.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said that his government is not deterred about the Court of Appeal ruling which overruled the high court judgement that sacked the 27 pro-Nyesom Wike’s lawmakers.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had nullified the expulsion of Martin Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers from the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The appellate court’s decision overturned an earlier ruling by the Rivers State High Court, which had ordered the expulsion.
The court ruled that Section 272 (3) of the Constitution grants the Federal High Court the authority to decide if a House of Assembly member’s seat has become vacant.
It ruled that the Federal High Court had exclusive jurisdiction to determine if the seats have become vacant.
However, Governor Fubara, in his reaction on Friday said he was not worried over the ruling.
The Governor who spoke to journalists shortly after inspection of projects in Khana, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State asserted that the worst was over.
He said: “I know that a lot of you will be wondering what is going on and all that. Government has its own challenges. If you go to the book of Psalm 23 verse 5, in the Bible, it said that God prepares a table before you; it can be before anybody. But there is an underlined word that should be noted there: it said ‘in the presence of your enemies’. So, it means that nothing comes easy.
“I want to assure everyone of you and the good people of Rivers State, that we are not deterred. We have made our promises, we will continue to give you good governance, no matter how difficult it is.
“But, like I said before, the worse is over. We are moving on to ensure that we continue to provide what is needed for the development of our state.”
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