Wike, Fubara camps to battle over 5 cases in Supreme Court Feb 10

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On February 10, Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers State, and his predecessor, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, will square off in five distinct cases that have been filed against one another in the Supreme Court.

Five separate cases were found to have been filed against each other and were subsequently scheduled for resolution on February 10 after the two camps moved their legal battles over irreconcilable differences regarding Rivers State matters to the highest court on Monday.

In order to allow the parties to submit and serve the required court documents in the individual appeals, a five-member panel of the highest court, presided over by Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji, ordered an adjournment of the proceedings.

However, the court mandated that four of the appeals be consolidated for the sake of clarity. when the Wike camp was represented by the appellants’ attorney, Joseph Daudu, SAN, who made a request to such effect.

Rivers State House of Assembly and others filed four appeals against the Rivers State Government and nine others in SC/CV/1174/2024; Rivers State House of Assembly and others filed a lawsuit against the Rivers State Governor and nine others in SC/CV/1175/2024; Rivers State House of Assembly and others filed a lawsuit against the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, or RSIEC, and nine others in SC/CV/1176/2024; and Rivers State House of Assembly and others filed a lawsuit against the Accountant General of Rivers State and nine others.

Earlier, Justice Aba-Aji declared that a hearing has been scheduled for February 10, 2025, in response to a motion to withdraw a cross-appeal filed on November 18, 2024, in SC/CV/1071A/2024, between the National Assembly and 16 others and the Rivers State House of Assembly and others.

In a ruling issued on January 22, 2024, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja criticised the governor’s loyalist four members of the State House of Assembly for being seen the 2024 budget.

Omotosho then gave the governor instructions to resubmit the budget to the assembly’s Martin Amaewhule-led group that supported Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Following Justice Omotosho’s ruling, a sister court in the Abuja division, presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, had mandated that the federal government’s distribution of funds to Rivers State be halted until the governor had presented the budget to the assembly led by Amaewhule.

On the grounds of serious injustice in the conclusions and rulings, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reversed Justice Abdulmalik’s ruling even though it upheld Justice Omotosho’s.

In a related decision, the Court of Appeal reversed the ruling of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had disapproved of the way the local government council election was conducted on October 5, 2024, citing due process under Rivers State law on local government elections had not been followed.

Together with a retinue of other younger solicitors, roughly fifty Senior Advocates of Nigeria, or SANs, represented the two camps at today’s proceedings.

Wike’s camp was centred by Joseph Bodunde Daudu, while Governor Fubara’s was led by Chris Uche.

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