The deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has sued the state parliament over a purported attempt to remove him from office.
Ewhrudjakpo claimed in the original summons, FHC/ABJ/CS/221/2025, that members of the Bayelsa parliament were pressuring him to resign from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was the platform on which he and the state governor, Douye Diri, were elected.
Ewhrudjakpo has stayed in the PDP despite Diri’s recent resignation.
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The deputy governor claimed in front of the federal high court in Abuja through his attorney, Reuben Egwuaba, that other council chairpersons, such as Alice Tange of Sagbama LGA, were also facing removal threats for refusing to leave the PDP alongside the governor.
In violation of sections 188(5)–(9), (11), and 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Ewhrudjakpo is requesting a number of interim orders, including one prohibiting the state house of assembly from dismissing or impeaching him due to his refusal to leave the PDP and join the All Progressives Congress (APC) or any other political party before the end of his term.
Additionally, he is requesting that the court prohibit the assembly from recognising or interacting with any APC member as the state’s deputy governor, as well as from starting or holding impeachment processes or hearings against him for the same reason.
Ewhrudjakpo also requested an order prohibiting the Bayelsa state attorney general, the inspector general of police (IGP), and the director general of the Department of State Services (DSS) from removing his security protection as deputy governor while the motion on notice is being decided.
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On October 27, after hearing Egwuaba’s ex parte motion, the sitting judge, Emeka Nwite, ordered the defendants to show up in court and explain why the plaintiff’s requested interim orders should not be granted.
The Bayelsa State House of Assembly, its speaker, the IGP, the DG of the DSS, the state’s chief judge, the attorney general of Bayelsa State, and the assembly clerk are all listed as defendants.
According to Nwite’s decision, allowing the defendants to appear would be in the best interests of justice.
“The interest of justice will be met by issuing an order for all the defendants to appear and show cause why an order of interim injunction should not be granted against them pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the plaintiff,” the judge said.
