Bayelsa Assembly Summons Sagbama Council Chair Despite Pending Court Order

The Bayelsa State House of Assembly has summoned the Executive Chairman of Sagbama Local Government Council, Hon. Alice Allen Tangi, to appear before it on Tuesday, August 18, despite a subsisting order of the Bayelsa State High Court directing parties in a pending suit to maintain the status quo.

The order was issued on August 10, 2026, by Justice D.E. Adokeme of the Yenagoa Judicial Division of the Bayelsa State High Court, sitting as a vacation court.

According to court documents made available to this publication, the judge directed that the matter be heard as a vacation case and ordered the parties to “maintain the status quo” pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice filed alongside the application.

The suit, marked Suit No. BYHC/YHC/CV/422/2026, was instituted by Mrs. Tangi against the Government of Bayelsa State and other defendants, including the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, the Leader of the Sagbama Legislative Council, the Sagbama Legislative Council and the Attorney-General of Bayelsa State.

An affidavit of non-service contained in the court processes states that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th defendants were served on August 11, 2026, through the office of the Attorney-General of Bayelsa State.

The documents therefore indicate that the Speaker and the State House of Assembly were among the parties recorded as having been served with the relevant court processes.

The latest development followed a letter dated August 17, 2026, written by Michael Jonathan Numa, SAN, counsel to Mrs. Tangi, and addressed to the Clerk of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.

In the letter, the senior lawyer acknowledged the constitutional and legislative functions of the Assembly but urged the Clerk to suspend the August 18 invitation extended to his client pending the determination of the applications before the court.

Counsel argued that Mrs. Tangi’s appearance before the Assembly at this stage could potentially conflict with the pending judicial proceedings and the August 10 order directing the parties to maintain the status quo.

He, however, stated that his client remained willing to appear before the Assembly after the court had ruled on the pending applications and in respect of matters outside the subject matter of the ongoing litigation.

The court documents further show that the matter was brought before the High Court on an urgent basis, with the court granting leave for certain defendants to be served by substituted means through the office of the Attorney-General of the State.

The substantive issues in the case remain pending.

There is, however, no judicial determination contained in the documents reviewed by this publication declaring the Assembly to be in contempt of court or establishing that it has breached the August 10 order.

The legal dispute comes against the backdrop of allegations of political pressure surrounding Mrs. Tangi’s continued membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In July, the Centre for Women’s Rights and Development Initiative alleged that moves to remove the Sagbama council chairperson were politically motivated and connected to her reported refusal to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Those allegations were reported at the time by The Guardian, which noted that they could not be independently verified and that the Bayelsa State Government and other parties mentioned had not publicly responded.

For now, the immediate legal issue remains the pending suit and the applications filed by Mrs. Tangi before the High Court.

With the court having ordered the parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the Motion on Notice, the decision by the Assembly to proceed with its August 18 summons has raised fresh legal and political questions.

Mrs. Tangi’s legal team has formally requested that the Assembly defer further action on the subject matter until the court determines the pending application.

The matter remains before the Bayelsa State High Court, with the parties’ respective legal positions yet to be finally determined.