• * Urges Joyful Party Members To Be Humble, Cautious In Victory

By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CeleOkaf11

Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Safety Agency (NIMASA) and deputy leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Hon (Dr.) Dakuku Warisenibo Peterside, at the weekend, described as "victory for democracy and progressive governance", the Supreme Court rulings on Friday, in the matters concerning the contentious Caretaker Committee of the Rivers State APC, among other associated leadership and party issues.

The apex court, in its weekend judicial decision, upheld the sacking of Mr. Igo Aguma as the chairman of the caretaker committee of the party in Rivers state. By the ruling, the Supreme Court agreed with the earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which had sacked Aguma and recognized Mr. Isaac Ogbobula-led caretaker committee as the authentic leadership structure of the party in the state.

Just like the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court also nullified the June 10, 2020 judgment of the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt which had installed Mr. Igo Aguma as the APC leader in Rivers state and instead, removed the Isaac Ogbobula-led committee which was constituted by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).

However, not satisfied with the December 29, 2020 judgment of the Appeal Court, Aguma quickly headed to the Supreme Court with an appeal, urging the apex court to restore the earlier judgment of the High Court which was in his favor. Aguma, in his appeal, also sought to stop the Rivers APC from going ahead with its ongoing membership revalidation/registration exercise.

But his appeal was unfortunately thrown out on Friday in a consensus ruling by a five-man panel of the Apex court headed by Honorable Justice Amina Augie. A member of the Supreme Court panel of judgment, Adamu Jauro, who drafted the lead judgment read on his behalf by Justice Augie, however, dismissed Aguma's appeal on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.

Jauro ruled that the appeal afflicted by what it described as jurisdictional issues as the Court of Appeal had earlier pronounced, said Aguma's case "has no chance of survival" and "is bound to face the consequence of this being dismissed". The eminent jurists, therefore, upheld the Appeal Court Judgement that had sacked Aguma and threw out the favorable judgment given to him by the High Court.

In his elation at the Supreme Court judgement, Dr. Dakuku Peterside reacted that: “While I am yet to get the full details of the judgments, my initial reaction is to say that the courts have once again risen to the occasion and deepened democracy and democratic tenets. This is a victory for all Rivers people, especially APC members, and it is a sign of greater things to come.

“Now the Rivers State chapter of the APC can strengthen its gains even further as we unite to provide Rivers people with authentic, strong, and focused leadership. We are deeply grateful to God Almighty and congratulate our leader, the Hon Minister for Transportation, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for this hard-won victory.”

The Rivers APC, Peterside advised, should go ahead and savor the court victories with humility and caution, as according to him, greater challenges lie ahead in working to fully unite the party and secure more membership drive for the APC in Rivers state. The medical scientist and politician said: “I appeal to our members to be magnanimous in this victory and know that greater works lie ahead. We must always remember our leader's mantra, “Once has God spoken, but twice I have heard this; power belongs to God.” NNL.