The leadership of the Southern Youth Foundation of Nigeria, SYF, has articulated that the group aligns with the Ethnic Youth Leaders of Nigeria in their repudiation of the Supreme Court’s verdict, asserting that it appeared more politically driven than grounded in legal principles.
The SYF contended that the defection of Rivers lawmakers should have been adjudicated prior to any formal acknowledgment by Governor Fubara. The Ethnic Youth Leaders have unequivocally denounced the Supreme Court’s ruling, which overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision regarding the withholding of the state’s allocation and ordered the reinstatement of the Martins Amaewhule-led dismissed Rivers legislators.
Representatives of the youths from the six geopolitical zones of the nation expressed bewilderment at the apex court’s decision, which they viewed as tantamount to depriving the people of Rivers State of their economic and political entitlements from the federation account, to which they have significantly contributed, and in determining their legislative representation.
In a statement by their zonal coordinators, spearheaded by Tochukwu Oha, the youth leaders proclaimed that the judgment was politically motivated, thus categorizing it as purely political rather than legal. The National President of the Southern Youth Foundation of Nigeria, therefore, called for a reassessment of the judgment concerning the cessation of allocation to the state and implored both parties to maintain composure in light of the judgment’s outcome.
According to them, the judgment was anti-people, contrary to democratic principles and federalism. While advocating for its review, they urged the pertinent authorities to prevent the judiciary from descending into disrepute. “We were all taken aback when the unthinkable transpired in our country, courtesy of the Supreme Court. The apex court, in a perplexing miscarriage of justice, restored the ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which halted the Central Bank of Nigeria from further disbursing monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State government.”
“This contradicted the sound judgment of the three-member panel of the Appeal Court, presided over by Justice Hamman Barka, which held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit seeking to seize Rivers State’s allocation.”
“The appellate court had equally decreed that the mere listing of federal agencies does not bestow unrestricted jurisdiction upon the Federal High Court, and the subject matter, concerning the appropriation issue of a state, should not have been entertained.”
“While all Nigerians of sound thought and conscience believed that this was the appropriate course and that the Supreme Court would uphold the Appeal Court’s decision, it diverged and favored the Wike-induced High Court decision, further ordering the reinstatement of lawmakers who forfeited their seats after defecting from the party that brought them into the State Assembly, despite the matter remaining under litigation.”
“This is unacceptable, and as ethnic youth leaders, we perceive this as an affront to the people of Rivers State, as it undermines their welfare and security—the primary objectives of government—which the judiciary has trampled upon, despite being touted as the common man’s bastion of hope.”
“We in the Southern Youth Foundation of Nigeria join in urging the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the National Judicial Council (NJC), and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to initiate a review of the judgment so that the people of Rivers can receive their rightful share from the federation account. We are equally appealing for calm from both sides and exhort them to remain law-abiding in the interest of Rivers State,” the SYF concluded.
