The Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has struck out a lawsuit filed by members of the Local Government Service Commission, following their decision to discontinue the case.
The Commission’s Chairman, Goodlife Ben, alongside five others, had approached the court to challenge their removal by the former Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas.
The appointees, who were earlier installed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, sought a declaration that their sack was unlawful and pressed for reinstatement.
However, at Thursday’s proceedings, their lawyer, Kelechi Ubani, informed the court of the decision to withdraw the matter.
He described it as a “difficult but necessary choice,” taken in the broader interest of peace and stability in Rivers State.
Counsel to the defendants argued that the matter should be dismissed entirely rather than struck out, but Justice Frank Onyiri rejected that submission.
Relying on Order 25, Rule 1 of the civil procedure rules, the judge affirmed that a claimant is entitled to withdraw a case.
Justice Onyiri, thereafter, struck out the suit without imposing costs, commending the claimants for what he described as a “commendable step toward reconciliation.”
