On Wednesday, the Federal High Court in Abuja issued an injunction prohibiting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from continuing to provide the administration of Rivers State with monthly budgetary allocations.
The verdict also applies to the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Zenith Bank, and Access Bank, where the state maintains accounts, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Judge Joyce Abdulmalik declared in her ruling that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s use and acceptance of monthly allotments from January 2024 is an unconstitutional practice that cannot be allowed to continue.
The judge said that Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget to the Rivers House of Assembly, which consists of four members, was a clear violation of the constitution.
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She added that the governor is obligated to uphold the 1999 Constitution, which is flagrantly violated by the way the budget was implemented.
As a result, Justice Abdulmalik directed the CBN, AGF, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank to prevent Fubara from gaining any more access to money from the Federation Account and the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The political crisis in Rivers State
The disagreement over the finances of the Rivers State government is the result of a political crisis that broke out earlier in 2024 as a result of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s disagreements with state lawmakers.
When only four loyalists remained in the Rivers House of Assembly after the majority of its members were either suspended or impeached, tensions peaked.
Governor Fubara persisted in submitting and accepting the state’s 2024 budget with the substantially diminished assembly in spite of the irregularity, a move that was widely denounced as unlawful.
The N800 billion budget, which was passed by a group of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Edison Ehie and signed into law by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, was declared invalid by the Federal High Court in Abuja in January.
Along with other reliefs, the court decided in favor of an action brought by the Assembly and its Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, seeking an injunction to stop Governor Fubara from interfering with the Assembly’s operations under Amaewhule’s direction.
According to Presiding Judge James Omotosho, all of the four politicians who supported Fubara’s activities were unlawful and ineffective.
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Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s appeal against the Federal High Court’s ruling that declared the N800 billion budget approved by the Edison Ehie-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly and signed into law by the governor was denied earlier this month by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.
On Thursday, October 10, 2024, the three-member appellate panel upheld the lower court’s decision in its ruling.
