A Court of Appeal sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered the parties involved in the ongoing battle to control the House of Assembly crisis in the state to maintain the status quo.
The Court of Appeal gave the order in a suit marked CA/PH/198/2024 brought by former speaker Hon. Martin Amaewhule and 24 others (Appellants) against the speaker Rt Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo and five others.
Amaewhule and others, who are loyal to former governor Nyesom Wike, had asked the appeal court to vacate the interlocutory injunction of a Port Harcourt High Court, which had affirmed Oko-Jumbo as the speaker of the House.
Justice Charles Wali of the State High Court had also ordered Amaewhule and 24 others to stop parading as speaker and lawmakers in the legislative arm of the state.
The Court also held that all the laws made by Amaewhule and others were in nullity untill the determination of the matter.
But the three-man Appeal Court Panel made up of Hon. Justice Jimi Olukayode Bada, Hon. Justice Hamma Akawu and Hon. Justice Balkisu Bello Aliyu, which sat virtually, ordered the parties involved in the matter to maintain the status quo and adjourned till 20th of July.
The Appeal Panel urged the parties not to take any step that would affect the merit of the matter before it.
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