The political crisis in Rivers State has taken an interesting turn as Appeal Court in Abuja delivered a judgment that provided some relief to Martins Amaewhule and his group of 26 Assembly members, as reported by Vanguard.
The judgment led to wild jubilation among the supporters of former Governor and serving Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
The Appeal Court judge ruled that the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt did not have the jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the defection by Martins Amaewhule and his colleagues.
Some supporters of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, suggested a defection from the PDP.
They noted the lack of support from the PDP leadership at both state and national levels despite the governor’s challenges.
In April, 60 PDP lawmakers in the House of Representatives demanded the resignation of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum.
They accused him of failing to address the political crisis in Rivers State.
The lawmakers, led by Ikenga Ugochinyere from Imo State, accused Damagum of siding with Wike and working for the APC, which appointed Wike as the FCT Minister.
Human rights activist Solomon Lenu supported the call for Fubara to leave the PDP.
Solomon Lenu suggested the SDP or Accord Party as potential options for Fubara and warned against joining the Labor Party.
“He (Fubara) cannot win any election in the state if he remains in the PDP to conduct the LG election in October. The state chairman of the PDP is the Minister’s loyalist. Remember that he refused to attend the stakeholders meeting last Monday by the state electoral commission, RSIEC. My fear is that the party may not give the tickets to the Governor’s candidates for the election. This is why the Governor should not hesitate to look elsewhere to save his political career,” he said.