Ehie: Setting Aside Stumbling Blocs On The Way

● Court sets aside warrant of arrest

By PHC Telegraph

Chief of Staff to the Governor of Rivers State, Edison Ehie, hunted by political opponents of his principal and the Police can now heave a sigh of relief.

An arrest warrant issued by a competent court of law which has been dangling over his head has been vacated.

Justice Emeka Nwite, Justice of a Federal High Court, who had earlier ordered the arrest of the former lawmaker following an exparte motion brought before him by the Inspector General of Police, reversed the order.

He agreed with the argument put forward by defence lawyers in the high profile case that the court may have hurriedly built something on nothing.

Justice Emeka Nwite ruled Thursday, that the court lacked the jurisdiction to have granted the order and at the time the arrest warrant was granted.

He equally agreed while making his latest pronouncement that as at the time the order was made, there was no pending charge before the court.

Two lawyers Femi Falana, SAN, and Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN who are handling separate suits relating to the matter appeared for Ehie and five other defendants.

Pushing the argument by the defence for the court to set aside the order it gave on the 31st of January, 2024, Falana explained that the complainant did not file charges against his clients at the time.

He argued that the Federal High Court lacked the appropriate jurisdiction to have issued a warrant of arrest for Ehie and five others.

Aladedoye who also applied for a stay of execution of the order of arrest argued that there was nothing standing in the way of a decision by the court to reverse itself and stay execution of the order.

Recall that Justice Nwite on January 31 had granted the order while delivering a ruling in an ex-parte application brought by Simon Lough, (SAN).

Lough, lawyer for the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; had asked the court to issue a warrant for Ehie’s arrest.

Others penciled down for arrest are Jinjiri Bala, Happy Benneth, Progress Joseph, Adokiye Oyagiri and Chibuike Peter.

In Rivers State, the victory earned by Ehie and five others is being seen by most Rivers sons and daughters as a heart-warming development.

Ehie who sacrificed his membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly in order to frustrate a plan to undo the Governor has become the target of certain political interests.

However, the Chief of Staff has gradually transformed into a symbol of the popular resistance that is going on, especially among Rivers youths, against what is seen as a bid by the FCT Minister to allegedly pocket Gov Fubara and decide how the state will be governed.

Among Fubara supporters, there are suspicious feelings that Edison Ehie and others who are being hunted in and outside courtrooms are victims of a huge conspiracy allegedly formulated in some high quarters to punish them because  of their political conviction.

Thursday’s decision which has relaxed the heat has enhanced the public perception of Fubara’s capacity to fend off obstacles that are being placed on his path by adversaries who are unhappy with his resolve to be his own man.

Within the PDP, Fubara has stubbornly resisted attempts by some persons to change the composition of the party’s executive committees in Rivers State that have now metamorphosed into Caretaker Committee structures which have a lifespan of three months.