Twist In Rivers As Justice Tells INEC To Conduct Elections To Fill 27 Seats Of Pro-Wike Lawmakers

A new twist has emerged in Rivers State following the defection of 27 state lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

In this latest development, Calabar-based lawyer Justice Osai Ahiakwo urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize fresh elections for the 27 vacant seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly. This call comes in the aftermath of the defection of the lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) over a week ago.

In an interview, Justice Ahiakwo recommended that the concerned party should initiate the proceedings and apply to INEC to set a date for a new election in line with constitutional and electoral law provisions. He praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his intervention in resolving the Rivers crisis, describing it as the application of alternative dispute-resolution (ADR) mechanisms to persuade the conflicting parties to cease hostilities.

“Mr. President’s intervention wasn’t in any way contravening the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” Ahiakwo stated.

He advised the involved parties to withdraw all pending court cases, emphasizing that once this is accomplished, the contested issues lose legal standing. Ahiakwo clarified that no court had issued a final judgment on the ongoing cases, maintaining that both the Rivers State High Court and the Federal High Court in Abuja have yet to conclude their proceedings.

“To the best of my legal knowledge, there is no final pronouncements of the courts adjudicating on the legality or otherwise of the mirage of issues surrounding the political leadership tussle in Rivers State,” he asserted. “What is perceived as the judgment of the court is an interlocutory order made by the court restraining either the defected lawmakers or the Executive Governor of the State, equally restraining him from certain actions against the aggrieved lawmakers pending the final determination of the civil actions before the court.”