A high court in Port Harcourt has ruled that Siminalayi Fubara, Rivers state governor, can conduct official business with three lawmakers at the state house of assembly who have not vacated their seats.Sika Aprioku, the presiding judge, dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Registered Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners.
Oko-Jaja told the court that between 2015 and 2017, the six members of the Rivers state house of assembly confirmed appointments and also passed the 2017 appropriation bill into law on December 28, 2016, a number far less than the 24 members that ought to form a quorum.
“That this suit be and is hereby dismissed, with cost in the sum of N500,000.00, awarded in favour of the defendants and against the claimant.”Meanwhile, Fubara signed the N1.18 trillion appropriation bill at the government house in Port Harcourt on Thursday. In October 2023, Ehie resigned as lawmaker to become chief of staff to the governor, as Oko-Jumbo took over as speaker to a four-member faction of the assembly.In January, a federal high court in Abuja voided and set aside the presentation and passage of the state’s 2024 budget.