The Supreme Court on Friday declared as invalid, illegal, null and void, the local government election conducted in Rivers state on October 5 last year and won by the All People’s Party (APP).

The Apex Court held that the election was invalid because all conditions precedent billed to be implemented were jettisoned by the Rivers State Electoral Commission.

Justice Jamilu Tukur who delivered the lead verdict held that the council poll was conducted in gross violations of section 150 of the Electoral Act 2022.

A Federal High court in Abuja on Monday, September 30, 2024, stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct the October 5, 2024, local government elections in the state.

The Court had also barred the Inspector General of Police IGP and the Department of the State Service DSS from providing security.

Justice Peter Lifu issued the order against INEC while delivering judgment in a suit brought before him by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The suit was argued on behalf of the APC by a team of senior lawyers comprising Joseph Daudu, Sebastine Hon and Ogwu James Onoja, all SANs.

Justice Lifu held that the RSIEC was wrong in fixing the October 5 date for the conduct of the poll into the 23 local governments when all relevant laws guiding the election had not been complied with.

Among others, the Judge held that the failure of the Rivers Electoral body violated the provisions of local governments’ election conduct law by not publishing the mandatory 90-day notice before fixing the date.

Justice Peter Lifu also held that the update and revision of the voter register ought to have been concluded before an election date conduct be legally and validity fixed in law.

The Judge therefore ordered INEC not to make the certified voter register available to RSIEC until the law has been fully complied with.

Justice Peter Lifu also barred RSIEC from accepting any voter register from INEC or using it for the purpose of the October 5 local government poll.

• Amaehule-led House of Assembly to resume unhindered sitting
• Cost of N 5m against the Respondents.

The Supreme Court, on Friday, reinstated the judgement that barred the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Accountant General of the Federation from releasing statutory monthly allocations to Rivers State.

The apex court in the judgment delivered on Friday by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, the Supreme Court also ordered the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly and other elected members of the House to forthwith resume sitting, unhindered.

The court faulted the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal for vacating the initial order that stopped the release of funds to Rivers State from the consolidated revenue following the failure of Governor Siminalaye Fubara’s refusal to re-present the 2024 Appropriation Bill of the state before the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

It held that contrary to the verdict of the appellate court, the Federal High Court in Abuja had the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the suit the Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers filed to challenge the continued withdrawal and expenditure of funds belonging to the state without the approval of the State Assembly.

A five-member panel of the apex court, in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, held that the appellate court misapprehended the core issue in dispute when it pegged it on the consolidated revenue of Rivers State alone.

“This wrong view influenced it to hold that the subject matter was not within the power of the Federal High Court,” the Supreme Court noted, stressing that what was at the center of the case was the refusal of Governor Fubara to obey a subsisting court order mandating him to present the Appropriation Bill to the valid Assembly.

It agreed with the high court that the 27 lawmakers that allegedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, are still valid members of the Rivers Assembly, pending the final determination of their status.

The Supreme Court dismissed Governor Fubara’s claim that given the defection of the lawmakers, he had to invoke the doctrine of necessity by presenting the Appropriation Bill to the only five remaining members of the Assembly.

According to the court, the doctrine of necessity could not be invoked to justify an illegal action.

The Apex court lambasted the governor for engaging in criminal activity of demolishing the House of Assembly with impunity just to prevent 27 legislators in the House of Assembly from sitting to carry out lawful activities. N5 million cost was awarded against him.

Justice Agim ordered that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk who were unlawfully redeployed out of the House of Assembly must be allowed to resume work alongside the House of Assembly workers.

The court held that it was an aberration for Governor Fubara to operate with only 4 out of the 32 House of Assembly members under the guise of baseless fears that he would be impeached.

According to the Justices, Fubara by his unlawful act among others, collapsed the House of Assembly and used his immunity under section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to carry out barbaric acts against the rule of law.

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Federal high court, both in Abuja which had earlier declared the acts against the 27 state of House of Assembly members as unlawful and illegal.

The federal high court had held that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January last year by Governor Siminalayi Fubara was a Constitutional somersault and aberration that must not be allowed to continue.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik who delivered the Federal high court judgment had last year issued an order that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a 4-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the Constitutional provision.

Specifically, the Judge had said that Fubara action in implementing unlawful budget smacked gross violations of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.

The judge had therefore restrained CBN, Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank and Access Bank from further allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.

Details later.

• Amaehule-led House of Assembly to resume unhindered sitting
• Cost of N 5m against the Respondents.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the release of funds to the Rivers State government forthwith until a proper House of Assembly is constituted.

On the validity of the members of the house who had defected from the political party that brought them to the house, the Court held that the judgement of the Court of Appeal is final and binding as the Appeal to the Supreme Court on the issue, was withdrawn and dismissed.

The apex court then ordered the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly to resume sitting immediately with all elected members.

More details to follow…

Watch the video of the interview

*As Fmr. NDDC Boss Joy Nunieh recalls how she slapped Akpabio for sexual harassment

The Senator representing Kogi Central at the Nigerian Senate, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of making inappropriate advances towards her during a visit to his country home in Akwa Ibom.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, the senator recounted the alleged incident, which she said took place in December, a day before both their birthdays.

“It all started the day before his birthday and my birthday because we are birthday mates. We were all in Akwa Ibom. At first, we were in his house at Ikot Ekpene. Then we all went to his house in Uyo, then he held my hands, walking around from room to room, he showed me the beautiful interiors. He got to this particular sitting room and asked me if I liked his house. I said of course, Sir, every room is beautiful, beautiful taste. And he said, Now you are a senator, I am going to create time for us to come create quality moments here. You will enjoy it.’ At that point, I just pulled away because I didn’t understand what he meant…”

“My case is a case of a student being punished by a lecturer for refusing to sleep with him,’ he said.

This allegation comes in the wake of a heated session in the Senate last Thursday when Akpabio ordered sergeants-at-arms to remove her from the chamber.

Tensions flared after Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno informed Akpabio that Akpoti-Uduaghan had refused to move to a new seat assigned to her, following the defection of two opposition senators to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Monguno, citing Orders 24 and 6, asserted that it was within the Senate President’s discretion to reassign senators’ seats. He further argued that a senator could only speak from their designated seat and that Akpabio had the authority to bar contributions from an unassigned position.

Akpoti-Uduaghan swiftly objected, rising in protest under Order 10, claiming her privileges had been breached. However, the Senate President directed that she be removed from the chamber, intensifying the standoff

On Tuesday, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, filed a lawsuit against Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, for alleged defamation.

In the suit Akpoti-Uduaghan filed, she alleged that defamatory statements were made by the Senate President and published by his aide on Facebook.

The senator then went on to ask the court to order the Akpabio to pay her N100 billion in general damages and N300 million as litigation costs.

The dispute between the aggrieved senator and the Senate President became public knowledge when her seat was reassigned within the Senate chamber without her consent.

Akpoti-Uduaghan was moved from her original position in the minority section to the last row. She resisted the sudden change.

When she persisted in her protest, her microphone was muted and Akpabio directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove her from the legislative chamber.

However, Akpoti-Uduaghan resisted the directive, standing her ground and insisting on her right to speak.

In protest, the Kogi lawmaker raised her voice, accusing Akpabio of silencing her.

“Since the nightclub incident, you [Akpabio] have deliberately silenced me and the voice of Kogi Central on this floor. You have denied me the right to contribute to motions,” she said.

“I have not been able to take the second readings of my numerous debates. So, Mr Senate President, I am not afraid of further being silenced but I will not be shoved to the corner. I choose to remain on this seat as a senator duly elected by my people come what may.

“The worst you will do, Mr Senate President, is to suspend me from sitting. And I promise you, the fact that I am suspended does not mean that I cease to contribute my quota to the development of my people and Nigerians at large.

“Mr Senate President, I have taken a whole lot from you. Some I don’t want to speak [about] publicly. But I will let Nigerians know how you are discriminating against me, how you have maligned me, how you have dehumanised me,” Akpoti-Uduaghan continued.

“Your choice of words since I resumed in this Senate have [caused me] to be dehumanised. Mr Senate President, I am not afraid of you. Do what you may but I will not leave this seat.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan later stated that she had faced a lot of harassment at the Senate chambers.

“I have faced a lot of harassment, I have been going through a lot, a lot. And I have remained quiet because I didn’t want to be interpreted wrongly, I didn’t want any lawsuits against me. I just wanted to be given a chance to work,” she said.

The senator added that she has been funding her international trips personally since 2024, as the Senate leadership systematically blocked her from attending any externally sponsored events.

It was not the first time the Senate President was accused of wrongdoing by a female colleague or an associate.

On December 12, Ireti Kingibe, senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), temporarily walked out of the senate chamber after Akpabio refused to entertain her motion on the need to probe the demolition of structures in the nation’s capital.

In one extreme case, Akpabio was accused of sexual harassment.

‘I SLAPPED AKPABIO FOR SEXUALLY HARASSING ME’

In July 2020, Joy Nunieh, former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), claimed she slapped Akpabio, who was then the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, for sexually assaulting her.

“Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me,” while entertaining questions on an Arise TV programme at the time.

“He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive MD. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment.”

Akpabio later denied sexually harassing Nunieh, saying unnamed individuals “afraid of the Forensic Audit at the NDDC” sponsored Nunieh to tarnish his image.

A 14-year-old boy has lost the court case he brought against his parents after they moved him from London to Ghana to attend a boarding school.

The boy argued that his parents tricked him into going to Africa, claiming it was a visit to a sick relative.

He said if he had known he was being sent to a boarding school, “there would have been no way I would have agreed to it.”

The High Court in London also heard from his parents who said they were worried he was being “groomed” into criminal activity.

In a written statement to the court, the teenager said:

“I feel like I am living in hell. I really do not think I deserve this and I want to come home, back to England, as soon as possible.”

The boy, who had lived in the UK since birth, said he was “mocked” and “never settled in” at the school in Ghana.

“I could also barely understand what was going on and I would get into fights”.

“I was so scared and desperate that I emailed the British High Commission in Accra as well as contacted the charity Children and Family Across Borders, who it is believed put him in touch with lawyers at the International Family Law Group.

“I am from London, England, and I want to go back home,” he wrote.

He said he had been “mistreated” at the school, adding: “I’m begging to go back to my old school.”

In his judgement, High Court judge Mr Justice Hayden said he recognised that “this is, in many ways, both a sobering and rather depressing conclusion.”

He said that he was satisfied that the parents’ wish for their son to move to Ghana was “driven by their deep, obvious and unconditional love”.

The boy was at risk of suffering greater harm returning to the UK, he said.

He said that the boy’s parents believe “and in my judgement with reason” that their son has “at very least peripheral involvement with gang culture and has exhibited an unhealthy interest in knives”.

The boy’s father told the judge the couple did not want their son to be “yet another black teenager stabbed to death in the streets of London.”

The High Court heard that the boy’s parents had sent him because they feared for his safety in London.

In a statement, his mother said sending him to Africa was “not a punishment but a measure to protect him”.

She referred to the murder of Kelyan Bokassa, the 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich in January. ‘’That was every parent’s worst nightmare”, she said.

She said she did not believe her son would survive in the UK and did not want to be part of her son’s “destruction”.

Rebecca Foulkes, the lawyer representing the boy’s father, said the boy met 11 of the points on a checklist produced by the children’s charity NSPCC to indicate whether a child might have joined a gang or was being criminally exploited.

That included being absent from school, having unexplained money, buying new things, and carrying weapons.

His school claimed it had “suspicions about him engaging in criminal activities” and had observed him in expensive clothes and with mobile phones.

The boy said he had never been part of a gang, nor “involved in gangs in any way”. He said he “does not know anyone involved in a gang” and he does not carry a knife.

He acknowledged in his statements that “my behaviour wasn’t the best” and said he thought that was the reason his parents sent him to Africa.

In a statement issued after the judgement, his parents said: “This has been a really difficult time for us all.”

Our priority has always been protecting our son and our focus now is on moving forward as a family.”

Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have rejected Mudashiru Obasa as the Speaker of their parliament.

Speaking with journalists at the assembly complex on Thursday, the lawmakers refuted Obasa’s claim that he remains the speaker.

The 36 lawmakers reaffirmed their support for the current speaker, Mojisola Meranda, insisting that she is the speaker of the assembly.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Security and Strategy, Steven Ogundipe, stated that the lawmakers remained committed to ensuring that Obasa’s removal stands.

Ogundipe also called on the All Progressives Congress leadership in Lagos to intervene in the leadership crisis.

He said, “We were approached by our leaders that we should remain calm and take things easy. But we are surprised to see what is happening here today.

“We won’t take laws into our hands, just as we told the staff not to take laws into our hands. But we all belong to different constituencies, and we have our mandate. Whatever has to happen, the leadership should speak with us and not this charade we are seeing.

“We are not happy; we have been law-abiding. We have not gone out of our way against the state. We also want to be respected and to be given our dignity. To be shown that we are elected. I’m appealing to the leadership of our party that we cannot continue this way.”

Meanwhile, two lawmakers—Ayinde Akinsanya (Mushin Constituency I) and Noheem Adams (Mushin Constituency II)—were spotted accompanying Obasa into the Assembly complex.

PUNCH Online reports that Obasa, alongside security officials, had stormed the assembly complex and entered the Speaker’s Office around 12 noon on Thursday.

The development followed the withdrawal of the security aides of the Speaker, Mojisola Meranda.

The assembly has been embroiled in a leadership crisis since Obasa’s removal as speaker and the subsequent election of Meranda.

Obasa was accused by over 90 per cent of the lawmakers of poor leadership style, perpetual lateness to legislative functions and plenary, high-handedness and disregard for colleague lawmakers and the executive, especially the governor, abuse of office and privileges, intimidation and oppression of members among others.

In an attempt to resolve the crisis, some All Progressives Congress bigwigs, notably former governors of Osun, Ogun and Lagos states, Chief Bisi Akande, Segun Osoba, and Akinwunmi Ambode, respectively, among others, on the directive of President Bola Tinubu, had a series of meetings last weekend with political stakeholders in the state including members of the assembly.

The PUNCH learnt at the end of the meetings that both Obasa and Meranda might be stepping aside for another lawmaker to lead the house.

A member of the Governors Advisory Council, Chief Muraina Taiwo, noted that one of the seven lawmakers from Lagos West was being considered by the party leaders as the new Speaker.