PDP Backs Omehia Against Amaechi In Tenure Tussle

The People’s Democratic Party on Monday opposed Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s bid to get the Supreme Court to set aside a Court of Appeal ruling, which joined his predecessor, Celestine Omehia, as an interested party in a suit concerning his tenure of office.

After listening to the submissions of various parties in the appeal, a panel of justices of the Supreme Court fixed February 7, 2014, to deliver its judgment.

At the hearing, PDP counsel, Olusola Oke, urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal filed by Amaechi against the Court of Appeal’s decision to join Omehia as an interested party in the suit.

The subject of the suit is whether Amaechi’s tenure started on May 29, 2007, when Omehia was inaugurated, or on October 2007, when the Rivers governor was sworn-in after Omehia’s removal by a decision of the Supreme Court.

The legal battle commenced in 2010 when a PDP member, Cyprian Chukwu, approached a Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission timetable for the 2011 general elections, which scheduled the Rivers State gubernatorial poll in August 2011.

Chukwu argued that since the Supreme Court had, in the judgment which removed Omehia and installed Amaechi, held that it was the PDP that won the April 2007 gubernatorial election in Rivers State and not the candidate, Amaechi’s tenure ought to start counting from May 29, 2007, when Omehia was inaugurated.

In its judgment, the Abuja FHC held that although Amaechi took the oath of office on October 26, 2007, his initial tenure ended on May 28, 2011, adding that his tenure started counting on May 29, 2007 when Omehia was wrongly inaugurated.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, Amaechi headed for the Court of Appeal but Omehia also approached the appellate court, asking to be made an interested party in the matter.

Following the Court of Appeal’s decision to join Omehia as an interested party in the matter, Amaechi again headed for the Supreme Court.