Politics
Accountability Panel Criticises Supreme Court Over Rivers State Crisis
The Independent Judicial Accountability Panel (IJAP) has criticised Nigeria’s Supreme Court for failing to clarify the legitimacy of defected lawmakers in its recent ruling on the Rivers State political crisis.
In a statement on Friday, the panel, which includes three retired justices of the Court of Appeal, expressed concerns that the apex court’s 28 February judgement did not explicitly address the status of 27 lawmakers who switched allegiance from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in defiance of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Retired Justice Mojeed Owoade, chair of the 11-member panel, noted that while the court acknowledged the defection, it did not provide a definitive ruling on whether the lawmakers’ seats had been legally vacated.
“The judgement of the Supreme Court in the consolidated appeals leaves a gap as to whether the issue of the alleged defection of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is still alive or has been settled,” Mr Owoade said.
“This is because the court made comments on the issue of defection without actually addressing it.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling on 28 February favoured the defected lawmakers in two of the three cases related to the Rivers crisis.
These judgements led to the suspension of federal allocations to the state until Governor Fubara resubmits the budget to the assembly, as well as the invalidation of local government elections conducted in 2024.
However, the court reserved judgment on the third issue—the lawmakers’ defection—potentially the most politically significant aspect for Mr Fubara.
Mr Owoade suggested that the court should have either remained silent on the matter or ruled explicitly, rather than offering ambiguous remarks that failed to settle the dispute.
“Complex and lengthy judgements of courts defy easy comprehension and therefore undermine public trust,” he warned, adding that judicial ambiguity risks eroding confidence in the legal system.
The panel called on politicians to refrain from interfering in judicial processes and urged the judiciary to remain steadfast in upholding the rule of law.
The controversy has further deepened the political standoff in Rivers State. Earlier this week, the state assembly shut its gates, preventing Governor Fubara from entering the premises.
Lawmakers insisted they had not yet invited him to resubmit the budget, a condition required for the release of federal funds.
On Friday, the lawmakers announced an indefinite recess, a move that could stall the budget resubmission and prolong the crisis.
The Independent Judicial Accountability Panel includes Justices Chinwe Iyizoba and Oludotun Adefope-Okojie, as well as legal and civil society figures such as Okechukwu Ibeanu, Jummai Audi, Mac Imoni Amarere, and Sechap A. Tsokwa.
… Rejects SDP as platform for coalition
… Says “you don’t fight Tinubu because you’re angry, seeking revenge
By Abubakar Yunusa
Sule Lamido, a former governor of Jigawa state, says the call by Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027 should not be based on personal grievances but on national interest.
El-Rufai moved to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC) on March 10 over what he described as a divergence in values with the ruling party.
He subsequently appealed to opposition leaders, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, ex-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), to join the SDP.
Reacting during an interview with BBC Hausa, Lamido said leadership should be about prioritising the nation’s welfare over personal emotions.
“Leadership is about patience, foresight, and working for the peace of the people and the nation. If you allow emotions to dictate your decisions, you will never lead objectively,” Lamido said.
“If El-Rufai’s goal is to unseat President Bola Tinubu, it should not be based on personal grievances but on national interest.
“We should not fight Tinubu just because we are angry at him or seeking revenge.
“Leadership should be about prioritizing the country’s well-being rather than personal emotions.”
Lamido noted that el-Rufai once said there were no political elders in northern Nigeria, adding that the former Kaduna governor also ignored the role of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his political career.
“The party we formed, the PDP, is the one that gave birth to El-Rufai,” Lamido said.
“You’re not enough to make us leave the PDP.
“He once said that there are no elders in northern Nigerian politics, but now he is calling on us to join him in the SDP.
“He said he told President Buhari about his decision to leave the APC, but now he is saying that he is one of the elders in Nigerian politics.”
Lamido said if he had any intention of leaving the PDP, he would have done so when APC was formed.
“If I was going to leave the PDP, I would have done so in 2014 when the APC was formed,” he added.
Northern-based socio-cultural group, Gamji Heritage, has scored the President Bola Tinubu-led administration high in its fight against banditry, terrorism and other forms of insecurity.
“I had said before now that we need to commend the federal government, under President Bola Tinubu, for the fight against terrorism, banditry and general insecurity,” the group’s president-general, Ahmed Abdullahi, said in a statement on Sunday.
Mr Abdullahi also advised that the fight should not be left in the hands of the government alone.
The president-general particularly said the north had no other option than to tackle the problems of insecurity, which had posed a serious challenge to the zone headlong.
“Still, there is a lot to be done. There was an exposé in America where President Donald Trump revealed the interference and sponsorship of terrorism by certain agencies of America, especially USAID.
“Our major concern in this matter is to ensure that nothing is done to undermine nations, especially the number one pride of the black race, which is Nigeria.
“Nigeria needs to make progress; Nigeria needs to be at peace, and it needs to develop and advance in the interest of Africa and the black race,’’ he said.
Mr Abdullahi said northerners were now more mindful and security conscious, helping security agencies more than before.
“Take the issue of Katsina State for example; the state government has now established a vigilance outfit which is assisting the security agencies.
“And I want to recommend this for other states because it is working and has succeeded in bringing down the rate of insecurity in the state,’’ he said.
Corroborating the concerns expressed by Mr Trump, Mr Abdullahi said some international NGOs were actually aiding and abetting banditry and terrorism in the north.
“When the state started registering the NGOs in order to closely look into their activities like in Katsina, insurgency activities went down significantly,’’ he said.
On the allegation that some traditional and community leaders were aiding and abetting banditry and terrorism in some parts of the country, he described the development as abominable and unacceptable.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike has again thrown his weight behind the Rivers Assembly in its tussle with Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Fubara and the House led by Martin-Amaewhule have made claims and counter-claims over the presentation of the state’s 2025 budget. Their impasse followed a Supreme Court verdict, recognising the lawmakers as legitimate members of the Rivers State Assembly.
That move led the House to ask Fubara to re-present the state’s 2025 budget which he had presented to the sect of lawmakers led by Victor Oko-Jumbo. Amid the dispute between the legislature and the governor who accused the lawmakers of frustrating his attempts to re-present the budget, Wike has backed the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Let me tell you, I’m not going to stop the Assembly from performing their constitutional duties. The Assembly should be allowed to perform their constitutional role,” Wike said on Saturday during a Thanksgiving Service held in Abalama, Asari-Toru Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State.
“The Assembly people should do their work. Whatever they deem necessary and fit, that is constitutional, they should do. I’m not going to stop anybody from carrying out their functions. I will not do that,” the minister said.
The immediate past governor of the state accused Fubara of seizing allowances and other benefits accrued to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Wike claimed Fubara was deceived into recognising a group of lawmakers and was wrong assured that “Nothing would happen”.
“You went, and they told you to seize Assembly members’ salaries, and allowances for more than one year. These people have no income to pay their children’s school fees and feed their families, and you were jubilating. You were jubilating and people were encouraging you that nothing would happen. But something has happened,” the FCT minister who is also a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told the jubilant crowd.
“They will lead you to hellfire,” the minister warned Governor Fubara.
Channels