1 day ago
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……Says It’s Political, Not Legal
……Insists Lawmakers Decampment Must Be Decided Before Governor Recognises Them
ABUJA: Ethnic Youth Leaders have rejected in its entirety, the ruling of the Supreme Court which dismissed the judgment of the Court of Appeal regarding the withholding of Rivers State’s allocation and ordering reinstatement of the Martins Amaewhule-led sacked lawmakers.
The representatives of youths across the six geopolitical zones of the country wondered why the Apex court delivered such a judgment which is tantamount to depriving the people of Rivers their economic and political rights.
The youths said the state makes significant contributions to the federation account and should also be allowed to decide who represents them in the legislature.
In a statement by their zonal coordinators led by Tochukwu Oha, the youth leaders alleged that the judgment was politically motivated, and not legal, adding that the High Court in the land should not have encouraged illegality.
According to them, the judgment was anti-people, against democracy and principles of federalism, calling for its review by relevant authorities to save the judiciary from descending into doldrums.
“We were all taken aback today when the unthinkable happened in our country, no thanks to the Supreme Court.
“The Apex Court in a very curious miscarriage of justice when it restored the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja which stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria from further releasing monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State government.
“This was against the sound judgment of the three-member panel of the Appeal Court presided by Justice Hamman Barka which held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit seeking to seize Rivers State allocation.
“The appellate court had equally ordered that the mere listing of federal agencies does not confer unrestricted jurisdiction on the Federal High Court, and the subject matter, which is the appropriation issue of a state, should not have been entertained.
“While all Nigerians of thought and good conscience believe that this was the right thing and the Supreme Court will uphold the decision of the Appeal Court, it did otherwise and went for the Wike induced High Court decision and also went ahead to order the reinstatement of lawmakers who lost their seat after they jumped the ship that brought them into the State Assembly and the matter is still subject of litigation.
“This is unacceptable and as ethnic youth leaders we consider this an affront to the people of Rivers State because it is their welfare and security which is the primary aim of government
We call on the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to cause a review of the judgelment so that the people of Rivers can enjoy what is due them from the federation account.”
English (US) ·