The spokesperson of the G60 opposition lawmakers of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, has hailed a court ruling by the High Court in Rivers State nullifying section three of the Rivers State House of Assembly Service Commission Law recently amended by the Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly.
The High Court sitting in Port Harcourt nullified the illegal amendment and appointment of Commission members by the sacked 27 lawmakers.
The amendment, recently enacted after the Assembly vetoed Governor Siminalayi Fubara, transferred the power to appoint the chairman and members of the commission from the governor to the Speaker of the House.
Delivering the judgment on Tuesday, Justice Kariba Dagogo-Jack ruled that the amendment violated sections 5, 176, 197, and 198 of the Nigerian Constitution. The court nullified the appointment of members of the Assembly Service Commission by the House, stating that they do not have the powers according to section 197 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) as amended.
“The State has a number of Commissions and the Constitution states the appointor,” Justice Dagogo-Jack noted. “Section 14.4 of the CFRN specifies that only the Governor has the appointing power to appoint the Chairman and members of any executive body, subject to the screening and confirmation of the State House of Assembly. The judgment took cognizance of the prohibition of retrogressive law as their action was in contradiction of that section in our Constitution.”
Reacting to the development, Ugochinyere commended the judiciary for upholding the rule of law, describing the illegal amendment by the sacked lawmakers as the height of legislative rascality.
He urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately conduct a by-election to fill the vacant seats.
