The Rivers State House of Assembly's 24 members were reinstated by the Appeal Court's decision, which has angered the National Democratic Coalition (NDC).
Daily Post reported that the 25 Assembly members who had switched from the PDP to the APC were barred from presenting themselves as legislators by a state high court in Port Harcourt on May 30, 2924.
Nonetheless, the Assembly members, led by Martin Amaewhule, petitioned the Appeal Court in an attempt to overturn the High Court's decision. The appeal court invalidated the High Court order in its ruling on Thursday, July 4.
The ex parte order could not have been granted by the lower court, according to a three-member panel of the court. In a statement released by its Executive Director, Dr. Samson Iroegbunam, the coalition expressed its reaction to the ruling.
They said, “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) expressly stated that the lawmakers forfeited their seats by defecting to a political party other than the one on which they were elected.”
They said that the lawmakers' reinstatement was contradictory to democracy, antagonistic to the rule of law, retrogressive, and provocative to the point of further undermining the already precarious peace in the state.
They said that because of the ruling's contentious character, worries over the numerous accusations made against the judiciary had returned.
The coalition said, “The Appeal Court has now created new complications with the judicial precedence it has set instead of giving rulings that stabilize Nigeria’s democracy and enhance the rule of law."
They called on Nigerians to take a position in support of the Federal Republic of Nigeria's Constitution.