Renowned human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has requested the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, to reassign the case filed by Martin Amaewhule's faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly against the Rivers State government and others, to the Port Harcourt Division of the court.
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| Femi Falana SAN |
Amaewhule's faction of the state Assembly had instituted the suit asking for the withholding of funds meant for local governments in the state.
The case, with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2024, was initially assigned to Justice Emeka Nwite and lat reassigned to Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, both in the Abuja Judicial Division.
In a letter dated October 25, 2024, Falana through his law firm Falana and Falana representing the 9th and 10th defendants in the suit argued that the Port Harcourt Division has the territorial jurisdiction to hear the case, as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Defendants have offices in Port Harcourt, while the remaining parties reside there.
The firm cited previous instances where the Chief Judge ordered the transfer of cases to the appropriate judicial divisions.
Furthermore, the law firm expressed concerns about the likelihood of bias in the Abuja Judicial Division, as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike, an interested party, had earlier announced plans to build houses for judges in Abuja.
The firm argued that this act might influence the case's outcome, contrary to the constitutional guarantee of judicial independence and impartiality.
The letter reads: "Apart from the issue of forum convenience, our client have decided to request the transfer on the ground of likelihood of bias in the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court as the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who is an interested party in this case, has announced plans to build houses for Judges within the Katampe District of the Federal Capital Territory.
"The Minister has promised to allocate about 10 out of the 40 houses to Judges of the Federal High Court Abuja. Your Lordship will agree with us the act of building houses for judges by the Executive is not in consonance with sections 81 and 121(3) of the Nigerian Constitution which have guaranteed financial autonomy for the Judiciary. Since the budget of the Judiciary was increased from N168 billion to N345 billion in the 2024 Appropriation Act, it is the responsibility of the National Judicial Council to ensure that houses are built for Judges and distributed to them.
"It is the humble view of our clients that the decision of the Honourable Minister to build houses for Judges may influence the outcome of the case contrary to Section 36(1) of the Constitution which stipulates that a court or tribunal shall be constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality." 2024
Meanwhile, a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Friday reserved judgment in a suit filed by Rivers House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule, seeking to stop all allocations to the state.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the judgment to a date that would be communicated to parties after the lawyers to the plaintiffs and the defence adopted their processes and argued their case for and against the
This came after Justice Abdulmalik dismissed all objections raised by the Rivers government against proceeding with the hearing of the suit.
The judge dismissed the applications by the state government and other defendants in the suit to stay proceedings, pending the hearing and the determination of the appeal already filed before the Appeal Court.
The judge held that the request was frivolous, vexatious, unwarranted and mischievous.
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