A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ruled that Chief Celestine Omehia cannot be forced to return a total of N69m paid to him as pension by the Rivers State government.
Omehia had challenged the demand by both the Rivers State Government and Rivers State House of Assembly requesting him to pay back the money as he was never a governor.
However, ruling on the matter on Tuesday, Justice Daketima Kio ruled that ruled that Omehia cannot be held liable for the errors of the defendants in the suit. The court held that it was an error on the part of the government to have been paying pension to Omehia when the Supreme Court had ruled that he was an impostor that was never duly elected a governor in the state.
The court, however, did not award any fines to either side but rather implored both parties should bear the cost of their actions.