Six Rivers state elders have sued President Bola Tinubu before the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly compelling Governor Siminilaya Fubara to enter into an unconstitutional pact.
Senator Bennett Birabi, Senator Andrew Uchendu, Rear Admiral O. P. Fingesi, Ann Kio Briggs, and Emmanuel Deinma are among the plaintiffs, who are led by Victor Jumbo, a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly representing Bonny State Constituency.
They argue that the December 18 agreement was not only unlawful but also a usurpation, nullification, and undermining of the existing or binding pertinent parts of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
As a result, they prayed the court to rule on whether President Tinubu, Governor Fubara, and the Rivers State Assembly have the right to enter into any agreement that has the effect of nullifying or undermining the constitutional or legal potency of Sections 109(I)(g) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
They argued that neither President Tinubu nor Governor Fubara had the legislative authority to prevent the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from holding new elections to replace the 27 Rivers State legislators.
The said legislators defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Meanwhile, President Tinubu was named as the first defendant in the FHC/ABJ/CS/1718/2023 lawsuit.
Other defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Governor Fubara, the Rivers Assembly, Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly, and the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
