A lawsuit seeking to declare the seat of Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, member representing Ideato North/South Federal Constituency, vacant has surfaced at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The suit, filed under case number FHC/ABJ/CS/28/1/2025, was initiated by Hon. Augustine Nwachukwu, Imo State PDP Chairman, Hon. ThankGod Okeke, and three others believed to be loyalists of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The plaintiffs are arguing, based on Sections 65(2)(b) and 68(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), that Ugochinyere allegedly lost his seat after being expelled from the PDP, the party that sponsored his election. They claim his position is now vacant unless covered by constitutional exceptions.

Reacting to the suit, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) dismissed it as baseless and legally unfounded. In a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA described the legal action as a desperate attempt by pro-Wike loyalists to undermine democracy and misuse the judiciary for political gains.

The group criticised the plaintiffs for pursuing what it called a “kangaroo suspension” that had no legal standing to warrant Ugochinyere’s removal from office. HURIWA further accused the Wike faction of continuously attempting to discredit Ugochinyere due to his strong stance on issues like the defection of sacked pro-Wike lawmakers and his support for Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

“The suit, filed by pro-Wike lawyer JJ Usman SAN, seeks an impossible ruling,” HURIWA stated. “It is ridiculous to ask the court to declare the seat of a lawmaker vacant when he has not decamped from his party.”

HURIWA called on political actors to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on what it described as “embarrassing legal projects” and urged the judiciary to resist being used for political vendettas.

It also reaffirmed that the former Rivers State House of Assembly members who defected to the APC had legally forfeited their seats, unlike Ugochinyere, who remains a PDP member.

“The courts have ruled against those who illegally paraded themselves as lawmakers after decamping. Samuel Anyanwu is no longer the PDP National Secretary, and no amount of legal maneuvering will change that,” the group concluded.