The residents of Rivers State are understandably anxious as they wait for the Court of Appeal's decision in the case that House of Assembly Speaker Martins Amaewhule and twenty-four other members filed challenging the decision of the state High Court. Peace would be restored to the oil-rich state after the lengthy political squabble, claims, and counter-claims were settled by the verdict. As reported by The Nation, the outcome would also decide the fate of Chief Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, and Governor Siminialayi Fubara, who are both vying for leadership positions in the Rivers Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Controversy has ensued over the interlocutory injunction that the High Court in Port Harcourt issued, officially recognising Victor Oko-Jumbo as speaker. In addition, Amaewhule and twenty-four others were forced to resign from their positions as speaker and members of the House of Assembly by Justice Charles Wali of the State High Court. But Amaewhule and twenty-four other state lawmakers asked the Court of Appeal to reverse the decision so they could get back to work.
Despite declining to block the order's implementation, the Port Harcourt Court of Appeal decided to hear the case and make a ruling. Justices Jimi Olukayode Bada, Hamma Akawu, and Balkisu Bello Aliyu made up the three-person Appeal panel; they ordered all parties to keep things as they are. But with the interim order in hand, the governor has been conducting official business with the three-member House of Assembly, which is chaired by Oko-Jumbo. Members of local governments' caretaker committees were vetted and approved by the Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly.
In spite of this, the elected chairmen of local governments whose terms were up on June 17 still aren't stepping down; they're bringing up the tenure elongation measure that the MPs led by Amaewhule passed. They asserted their right to stay in office for an additional six months under the new local government statute, so the governor could conduct new elections for the position. Since the High Court's decision to annul the tenure elongation statute ran counter to both the Court of Appeal's verdict upholding the status quo and an earlier decision by the Federal High Court, they declared that they would not obey the judgement.