The Supreme Court is set to settle the matter of whether elected local government chairmen in Rivers State under the governorship of Chibuike Amaechi but sacked by Governor Nyesom Wike are necessary, legal joinders in a case filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, challenging their removal.
The apex court had set aside Thursday, May 24 for ruling on the matter brought before its Justices by Gov. Wike.
The Rivers State helmsman, who lost the same matter at both the High Court and Appeal Court, respectively, had approached the apex court to still seek the exclusion of the 22 elected local government chairmen from the case.
The two courts had ruled that as necessary beneficiaries of the local government poll through which they were elected, the sacked chairmen were necessary joinders in the matter.
Gov. Wike, even against previous Supreme Court ruling that said state governors had no powers under Nigeria’s Constitition(as amended) to terminate the tenure of elected council authority, had sacked the councils. While the Supreme Court had yet to dispense the matter he took to them, Wike went ahead and fixed June 16 to hold local government election inRivers State.
However, only his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is fielding candidates for the election.
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