Port Harcourt, Rivers State – The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has dismissed a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) seeking to challenge the legitimacy of 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Delivering the judgment on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, Justice Emmanuel A. Obile held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter, citing a binding decision already issued by the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025.
“The Supreme Court’s judgment is binding on this court,” Justice Obile declared. “The issue of the lawmakers’ status has been settled, and this court lacks jurisdiction to reopen it.”
The Labour Party had asked the court to declare the lawmakers’ defection unconstitutional under Section 272(3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), arguing that their continued stay in the assembly violated democratic principles.
However, Justice Obile ruled the matter as res judicata, meaning it had already been conclusively decided by the apex court and could not be re-litigated.
Counsel for the Labour Party, Clifford Chuku, had argued that the issue of defection was a “collateral matter” in the earlier Supreme Court case and urged the court to hear the suit on its own merit. “We believe this is a fresh constitutional question that deserves judicial scrutiny,” Chuku stated.
But Ken Njemanze, SAN, representing the 27 lawmakers—known allies of the former Rivers governor Nyesom Wike—urged the court to dismiss the case, insisting that the Supreme Court had already upheld the legitimacy of the lawmakers’ positions.
Speaking after the ruling, Njemanze said, “This decision reaffirms the finality of the Supreme Court’s verdict and the stability of the legislature in Rivers State.”
The Labour Party has not indicated whether it will seek further legal options following the court’s dismissal.
