A chieftian of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called on the Supreme Court, to order for the arrest of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, for contempt of the judgement of the apex Court.
Eze, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt, said the recognition and subsequent derecognition of Sir Celestine Omehia as a former governor of the State was against the October 27, 2007 judgement of the Supreme Court.
He stated that in that case, which enjoyed the status of a ‘locus classicus’, the court, after an exhaustive consideration of the facts brought before it, granted the prayers of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Omehia, unseat the later and ordered that Amaechi be sworn in as the duly elected governor of the State.
The APC chieftain said: “The apex court was emphatic on the status of Celestine Omehia, to wit, he was never a Governor as he merely held brief for Amaechi within the six months period he held sway as Governor. That means every actions he took and all decisions he made were credited to Amaechi on whose stead he acted.
“It is common knowledge that decisions of a higher court, are law automatically and must be relied upon as binding precedents to the courts below. And by that decision, it is the law that Celestine Omehia was never a Governor.
“In the spirit of responsibility and respect to the law, Amaechi complied with the decision of the court on the status of Celestine Omehia, after a thorough briefing from law experts on the subject until the end of his tenure in 2015.
“There was however a sudden turn of event after Nyesom Wike took over power as Governor. In his usual custom of flouting laws with impunity, he hurriedly lobbied the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who can at best be described as stooges, to cook up a legislative process to recognize Omehia as a former governor to enable him enjoy the rights and privileges that accrue to men of that status.
“The governor used the instrumentality of the State Assembly as flavour to garnish his unlawful act and until their relationship turned sour, Omehia enjoyed every benefit befitting a former holder of the office of governor of Rivers State.
“All of these the governor did to demonize Amaechi and send a wrong signal to the public that the former Governor was evil. And his strategy worked for him in the congregation of his praise singers and gullible followers who can barely differentiate right from wrong.”
