A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has adjourned to May 3, 2024, for the hearing of a suit filed by some civil society organizations, CSOs, in Rivers State against 27 members of the State Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.
Other respondents in the suit are Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Attorney General of Rivers State.
The CSOs are seeking clarification on whether lawmakers in the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC, retain their legal status as representatives of their constituencies under Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In addition, the CSOs are asking the court to prevent Fubara from presenting the 2024 budget to the Amaewhule-led lawmakers who allegedly vacated their seats by defecting from the PDP to the APC.
During the hearing on Friday, the clerk of the court informed the parties that Justice Stephen Dalyopam was unavailable, prompting the adjournment to a new date for the hearing.