Amaechi Shutdown Judiciary To Avoid Impeachment from Wike’s 5 Lawmakers – Sogbeye Eli
Mr. Fagbemi, a staunch loyalist of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, has given a detailed explanation for the prolonged shutdown of the state’s judiciary during Amaechi’s tenure. Speaking to Eagle Eyes report, Fagbemi said the closure was not intended to punish the judiciary but was a strategic move aimed at preventing an impeachment attempt allegedly orchestrated by five lawmakers loyal to Nyesom Wike.
“The allegation that Amaechi shut down the Judiciary while serving as Governor is to highlight how the plot to unconstitutionally remove him from office sponsored by Abuja engulfed both the Judiciary and the State House of Assembly which are the two critical institutions in the Constitution to effect the impeachment of the Governor.
He also explained the beginning of the judicial crisis in the state. While speaking to Eagle Eyes report, Fagbemi noted that Amaechi’s offence was the appointment of Honourable Justice Peter N. C. Agumagu as successor Chief Judge to Honourable Justice Iche Ndu. With Agumagu’s appointment, tensions escalated between the executive and the judiciary, ultimately triggering the dispute that followed.
“On the Judiciary front, Amaechi’s offence was the appointment of the Honourable Justice Peter N. C. Agumagu as successor Chief Judge to the Honourable Justice Iche Ndu. With Agumagu, the plot to oust Amaechi has failed and everything was done to frustrate it even when the State House of Assembly has approved the appointment as required under the Constitution.
“They fought to impose Honorable Justice Daisy Wotogbe Okocha instead to perfect the plot. Fortunately for the plotters, the Constitution provided the leeway in the mandatory provision for the appointment of the most senior Judge of the State High Court as Acting Chief Judge where the office becomes vacant. While the Wikes of this world made much ado about nothing over that constitutional provision, they conveniently ignored the breach of convention when Dr. Peter Odili as Governor appointed Justice Ndu as substantive Chief Judge from the No. 7 position in the hierarchy. Wike himself also appointed the Honourable Justice Simeon Chituru Amadi as Chief Judge over and above at least five of his seniors on the Bench of the State High Court. In Amaechi’s case, it was different because the NJC got involved in the politics constraining the process.
“Just as Amaechi did not order the Courts to be shut because he neither had such power nor the dictatorial temperament of Wike, Oshiomole’s new Lord and Master, who helped him impose Akpakometer on Edo State as Governor. Rather, it was those behind the unconstitutional plot to impeach Amaechi that impeded the smooth running of the Judiciary and ultimately forced the closure. How?
“An action was filed in the Ahoada Division of the State High Court to determine whether under the provisions of Section 96 of the 1999 Constitution, five members of the 32-member Rivers State House of Assembly can validly constitute the Quorum required and subsequently impeach the Governor? With arguments taken by the parties before Justice Wali, the High Court was bombed with dynamite in the morning mi Lord adjourned for ruling on the matter. The High Court in Isiokpo and Degema Divisions were subsequently attacked by arsonists to frustrate and forestall the suits filed consecutively on the same issue. It is those bombings that forced the shutdown following the strike embarked upon by Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) to protect the safety of their Staff. Not the Governor. Not the CJ imbroglio. The latter only affected the Courts sitting in the Port Harcourt Division. I was in practice then therefore speak from the position of personal knowledge of these facts.
“On the State House of Assembly, who is unaware that the Police under the infamous Commissioner Joseph Mbu sealed the complex with an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) following the failure of the plot to impeach the Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Amachree as Speaker by just five members which led to the suits filed for judicial interpretation in the first place? That APC was there from July 2013 to May 29, 2015 just after Wike was sworn to office.
“These guys can’t rewrite our history by their devilish propaganda!! Was Oshiomole not the man who as National Chairman enabled the internal rebellion by dissident characters that resulted in the party being booted out of the ballot in 2019? Now that Tinubu is President, why did Adams Oshiomole not make a case of inclusion for those so-called Asiwaju loyalists? He’s comfortable watching them struggle for survival behind Nyesom Wike. Wickedness of the highest order.”
Sogbeye Eli
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