The Port Harcourt division of the Court of Appeal on Monday dismissed two appeals filed by local government chairmen loyal to former Rivers Gov. Nyesom Wike, citing a lack of merit in their claims.
Hon. Enyiada Cookey-Gam and six others filed appeals CA/PH/137M/2024 and CA/PH/145M/2024, contesting the lower court’s rulings on the extension of the council leadership’s tenure, but the appeals were subsequently dismissed.
Persecondnews recalls that on May 21, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt ruled that the tenure extension for the 23 council chairmen was null and void.
Twenty-seven members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, loyal to Wike, passed the controversial law.
Despite Rivers Gov. Siminalayi Fubara’s refusal to sign the bill into law, the lawmakers, led by then Speaker Martin Amaewhule, exercised their veto power to enact it.
Justice D.G. Kio ruled that the newly enacted law contravenes the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Section 9(1) of Rivers State Law No. 5 of 2018, which explicitly stipulates a three-year tenure for local government chairmen and councilors in Rivers State.
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