A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has adjourned a suit filed by civil society organisations in the state against the embattled 25 members of the state House of Assembly to April 26 for hearing.
The presiding Judge, Justice Stephen Dalyopam, adjourned the matter after listening to counsels in the matter. He said the adjournment would give all the parties to the suit the opportunity to file their processes.
Dalyopam, however, directed all the counsels to ensure they completed their processes of services and serve each other before the new date.
Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, counsel representing the plaintiff in the matter, Eugene Ode, told journalists some parties had filed preliminary objections challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter before it, while some counsel had not filed any responses to the court.
Ode said it was in the spirit of fair hearing and justice that the court adjourned the matter to give fair hearing and equal justice to all.
He explained that the adjournment was not a setback, but to ensure that justice is served to all parties involved.
“It is also for the interest of justice to allow them to bring their processes to the court. We have taken a new date today so that at the end, nobody will say that he was shut out of the matter.”
In his reaction, the state Chairman of the civil society organizations, Enefa Georgewill, said they asked the court to interpret Section 119(G) of the Constitution with regards to the 25 embattled members of the state House of Assembly, who defected from PDP to APC, whether they were still members of the House in line with the constitution, claiming that their actions contravened Sections of 119 (g) of the Constitution and should vacate their seats.
