TheCable

The Rivers state chapter of the All Progressives Congress has declared the Rivers judicial commission of inquiry on the administration Rotimi Amaechi as illegal, saying Nyesom Wike, governor of the state, has already convicted the former governor before the commencement of the trial.

The party said the panel lacks constitutional powers to do the work for which it was set up by the “state caretaker governor”, Wike.

“This is, at best, a kangaroo court which was set up for the sole purpose of rubber-stamping Chief Wike’s conviction, without trial, of his estranged benefactor and the immediate past governor of the State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi,” Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, spokesman of the state chairman of the party, Davies Ikanya.

“The Justice Omereji Commission of Inquiry is illegal, ill-conceived and ill-motivated. It should be disbanded forthwith.”

The party pointed out that the commission of inquiry law ,which has been cited as the backbone of the commission being chaired by Justice George Omereji, did not in any of its 23 sections authorise the establishing of a judicial commission of inquiry but merely stated that the governor can set up an inquiry “because judicial powers are vested in courts of law (Section 6(6) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution)”.

“As has been made quite clear by legal experts, in setting up the Omereji Commission, Chief Wike was exercising a power unknown to law. To add ‘Judicial’ to a mere administrative inquiry does not reflect a doing of right according to law as it gives the public the wrong impression that the Commission is a High Court by another name called,” the party said.

It also faulted the commission’s terms of reference, which includes, among others, “to investigate the illegal deduction from the state’s savings account without compliance with extant laws”.

This, according to the party, means that Wike has already judged Amaechi guilty even before the commission started sitting in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, August 25.

“This is a clear case of bias, which is not acceptable to us. It tantamount to conviction before trial, and this should be unreservedly condemned by all lovers of justice throughout Nigeria and beyond,” it said.

The party also expressed regrets that Justice Omereji, for reasons best known to him, decided to serve as Wike’s hangman, saying: “It is not yet too late for this otherwise respected jurist to throw in the towel and save his good name, which is being tarnished by his acceptance of Wike’s satanic assignment.”