Elders in Rivers State have taken legal action by approaching the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking a declaration that the purported peace agreement with Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs, led by Rivers State House of Assembly member Victor Jumbo, contend that the agreement signed on December 18 is illegal, amounting to usurpation and undermining of constitutional provisions.
The elders, including Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O.P. Fingesi, Ann Kio Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma, also request the court to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh poll to replace 27 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Governor Fubara, the Rivers Assembly, Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, and INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu are listed as defendants in the suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1718/2023).
The plaintiffs argue that neither Tinubu nor Fubara possesses statutory powers to prevent INEC from conducting fresh elections for the 27 defected lawmakers. This legal challenge follows reported talks and a truce reached last week, involving political stakeholders such as President Bola Tinubu, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and former Governor Nyesom Wike.
A resolution signed at the end of the meeting directed the withdrawal of lawsuits related to the political crisis in Rivers State. However, the elders now contest the constitutionality of the peace agreement, highlighting the need for legal scrutiny amidst the complex political dynamics in the state.
