Rivers citizens sue Tinubu over Wike-Fubara peace deal

Some Rivers State citizens have sued President Bola Tinubu for allegedly compelling Governor Siminalayi Fubara to sign a pact ending the political crisis that has engulfed the state.

On Monday, Mr Tinubu convened a meeting of Rivers State stakeholders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where a peace agreement was brokered to end the supremacy tussle between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

Some of the items contained in the peace deal are for all court cases filed on the crisis to be withdrawn, and for Governor Fubara to allow 25 lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress to continue with their legislative duties, among others.

The meeting was attended by Governor Fubara, Mr Wike, Peter Odilli, a former governor of the state, and other political leaders in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that apart from Messrs Fubara and Wike, others who signed the resolution document include: the PDP chairperson in Rivers State, Aaron Chukwuemeka, and the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule.

The resolution was also signed by Rivers Deputy Governor Ngozi Ordu and a factional Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Martin Chike.

But, this newspaper later reported that President Tinubu lambasted Mr Fubara at the meeting over his role in the crisis.

Suit

However, the plaintiffs argued in the fresh suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja that the peace agreement was unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs are Victor Jumbo, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly (Bonny State Constituency); Ann kio Briggs, a human rights activist; Bennett Birabi, Andrew Uchendu and O. P. Fingesi, a retired military officer.

Listed as defendants are, Mr Tinubu, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Fubara, the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly; and the INEC chairperson.

Issues

The six plaintiffs contended that the purported agreement, which was signed on 18 December, was unconstitutional.

They further argued that the pact undermined key provisions of the Nigerian constitution.

As a result, the plaintiffs urged the court to, among other things, determine whether Mr Tinubu, Governor Fubara, and the Rivers State House of Assembly have the rights and are entitled to enter into any agreement that has the effect of nullifying or undermining the constitutional/legal potency of the provisions of Section 109(I)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

In court filings seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, the plaintiffs through their lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that President Tinubu and Governor Fubara lacked the statutory powers to stop Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC, from conducting fresh elections to replace the 27 lawmakers who ditched the PDP for the APC.

The 27 lawmakers had initiated impeachment proceedings to remove Mr Fubara from office after he fell apart from Mr Wike, who is now the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Meanwhile, the suit has not been assigned to any judge for a hearing, as the Federal High Court is currently on recess for the Christmas holidays.