A legal practitioner based in Calabar, Justice Osai Ahiakwo, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize new elections for the 27 vacant seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly. The call comes in the wake of the defection of lawmakers from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) over a week ago.
In an interview, Ahiakwo suggested that the interested party should take the initiative and approach the electoral body to schedule a fresh election, adhering to the provisions of the Constitution and electoral laws.
Commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his intervention in resolving the Rivers crisis, Ahiakwo characterized it as a bold step in employing alternative dispute-resolution (ADR) mechanisms to persuade the political players to find common ground. He emphasized that the President’s intervention did not violate the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
Ahiakwo further advised the involved parties to withdraw any pending legal cases, noting that once this step is taken, the issues contested in court would no longer be a subject of contention.
“Our legal system has existed since before the declaration of our nation’s independence. We have a vast jurisprudence covering numerous aspects of our collective lives. Once the gladiators agree to withdraw the cases in court, those without legal standing cannot agitate more than the parties directly involved,” he remarked.
He clarified that no court had issued a final judgment in the ongoing cases before the Justices, emphasizing that neither the Rivers State High Court nor the Federal High Court in Abuja had concluded the proceedings. Ahiakwo pointed out that what may be perceived as a court judgment is likely an interlocutory order, temporarily restraining certain actions until the final determination of the civil actions in court.