The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Rivers State, Honorable Justice John Tsoho, has issued an order for the transfer of the legal cases relating to the defection of 25 state lawmakers in Rivers State from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Chief Judge moved the cases from Federal High Court 4, Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Steven Dalyop Pam, to Court 2 under the jurisdiction of Justice E. O. Obele.
This decision led to confusion among journalists and lawyers as they arrived at the court on Friday morning to discover that the cases had been transferred to a different court.
It was gathered that the cases were moved to the new court following a petition by a defendant in the matter, Hon. Martins Amaewhule, to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
Amaewhule in the petition had requested the cases against him and his other colleagues to be transferred to another court.
The affected cases are the one initiated by BOOT Party and others as plaintiffs in suit number FHC/PHC/269/2024, as well as by a Civil Society Organisation in Rivers state.
Amaewhule’s petition was read before the court on Monday during proceedings.
However, the Counsel for the plaintiff, BOOT Party, in his argument on Monday urged the court to disregard the petition, while the Counsel for the 1st to 25th Defendants, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Ferdinand Orbi, requested the court to adhere to the petition and halt further proceedings.
