A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt will deliver its ruling on April 16, 2025, in a suit filed by the Labour Party in Rivers State against the alleged defection of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and 26 others.
Presiding Judge, Justice Emmanuel Obile, adjourned the matter after counsels representing the parties adopted their final written addresses in a fresh application by the counsel to Amaewhule and the 26 others, Ken Njemanze, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.
Njemanze, urged the court to modify their earlier request for striking out the defection suit against Amaewhule and others to a dismissal of the case.
He based this on a recent Supreme Court judgment that addressed the legitimacy of the lawmakers, arguing that failing to dismiss the suit would amount to rewriting the Supreme Court’s decision.
Although Njemanze’s oral request was not opposed by Labour Party’s counsel, Clifford Chuku, the latter contended that the issue of defection was a collateral matter in the Supreme Court’s ruling.
He, therefore, urged the court to strike out the defendants’ application.
Media Talk Africa reports that Chuku also argued that the deponent to the defendants’ affidavit is a lawyer whose name appears on the suit, which goes against legal practice.
He urged the court to hear the matter on its merit.
After listening to both parties, Justice Obile adjourned the case to April 16, 2025, for a ruling on the motion.
