Amid the political flamboyance going on in Rivers State, Six Rivers elders have initiated legal proceedings against President Bola Tinubu at the Federal High Court in Abuja, alleging that he compelled Governor Siminilaya Fubara to enter into an unconstitutional agreement.
The plaintiffs, led by Victor Oko Jumbo, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Bonny State Constituency, include Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O. P. Fingesi (retired), Ms. Ann Kio Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma.
They contend that the agreement, signed on December 18, is not only illegal but also constitutes usurpation, nullification, and undermining of the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. Seeking redress in court, they request a determination of whether President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and the Rivers State Assembly have the right and entitlement to enter into any agreement that nullifies or undermines the constitutional and legal potency of Section 109(I)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The plaintiffs argue that neither President Tinubu nor Governor Fubara possesses the statutory authority to obstruct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting fresh elections to replace the 27 former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
