THE Court of Appeal Abuja has vacated all orders restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation from releasing funds to the Rivers State Government.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Hamman Barka ruled on Friday, December 13, that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked jurisdiction to handle a case involving state revenue.
The appellate court sided with the Rivers State government, overturning all orders made by Joyce Abdulmalik that restricted the state’s access to its consolidated revenue fund.
Essentially, the court found that Abdulmalik’s orders were unconstitutional and that the lower court had overstepped its bounds by entertaining the matter in the first place.
The appellate court held that the said orders were unconstitutional, null, and void, having been made without jurisdiction, adding that the lower court overreached itself and didn’t have the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The court, having held that the case of the appellants had merit, subsequently allowed the appeal and set aside all the orders made by Abdulmalik.
Abdulmalik had in October ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations from the consolidated funds to the Rivers State Government.
In the ruling, the court had restrained the CBN from allowing the state to access its share of the federation account.
This judgment was delivered in response to a lawsuit filed by the factional leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule, which accused the state executive of failing to comply with a court order related to the re-presentation of the state’s 2024 appropriation bill.
Abdulmalik, in her ruling on Wednesday, October 30, ruled that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara to four members of the state House of Assembly was an aberration and an affront to Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).
According to the judge, Fubara’s receipt and distribution of monthly allocations since January 2024 was illegal.
She directed Zenith Bank, Access Bank, the CBN, and the accountant general of the federation to stop Fubara from getting access to funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
However, Fubara appealed the Federal High Court ruling that halted the monthly Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) disbursement to the state on November 23.
The governor, through his counsel, Yusuf Ali, a senior advocate, requested the Court of Appeal to vacate the October 30 judgment by the Federal High Court.
The appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024, was filed before a three-member panel of justices, led by Barka.
Fubara, in his appeal, contended that the Federal High Court’s decision was issued without proper consideration and called for the reversal of the order.
The governor also sought to nullify the directive by Abdulmalik on October 30, which included the prohibition on disbursing funds from the federation account to the state.
This move to halt the monthly allocation came amidst a broader political rift between Fubara and his predecessor and minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Both leaders have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure in the state since 2023, with President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to resolve the stalemate yielding no result.
A reporter with the ICIR
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