THE Supreme Court has stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), and other agencies of the Federal Government from releasing funds to Rivers State Government.
The court has also sacked all the local government chairpersons in the state.
The five-man panel of the court, in a judgment delivered by Emmanuel Akomaye, unanimously disregarded the cross-appeal filed by Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Fubara is challenging the validity of the state House of Assembly presided over by Martin Amaewhule.
In dismissing Fubara’s appeal, the court directed Amaewhule to resume sitting immediately with other elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The court deemed Fubara’s presentation of an appropriation bill before a four-man House of Assembly as absurd.
The court said the action denied 28 constituencies effective representation, violated a court order that mandated Fubara to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill before a validly constituted Assembly led by Amaewhule.
Furthermore, the apex court viewed Fubara’s actions regarding the alleged defection of 28 Rivers Assembly members as authoritarian, aimed at hindering the House’s legitimate functions under Amaewhule’s speakership.
The court also faulted the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal for vacating the initial order that stopped the release of funds to Rivers State from the consolidated revenue.
It held that contrary to the verdict of the appellate court, the Federal High Court in Abuja had the requisite jurisdiction to entertain the suit the Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers filed to challenge the continued withdrawal and expenditure of funds belonging to the state without the approval of the State Assembly.
“This wrong view influenced it to hold that the subject matter was not within the power of the Federal High Court,” the apex court ruled.
The court maintained that the basis for the case was the refusal of Fubara to obey a subsisting court order requiring him to present the Appropriation Bill to the lawful Assembly.
The court dismissed Fubara’s claim that given the defection of the lawmakers, he had to invoke the doctrine of necessity by presenting the Appropriation Bill to only five remaining members of the Assembly.
According to the court, the doctrine of necessity could not be invoked to explain an illegal action.
Earlier in October 2023, a Federal High Court in Abuja restrained the CBN from disbursing federal allocations to the Rivers state government.
The court held that monies from the federation account should not be released to the state pending the passage of a lawful appropriation act by a validly constituted House of Assembly.
The presiding judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, gave the verdict while delivering judgment on a suit filed by the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Amaewhule.
Abdulmalik held that Fubara was wrong to have presented the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to a five-member assembly “that was not properly constituted.”.
The ICIR reports that the Rivers State Assembly has been engulfed in a prolonged crisis since 2023, heightened by the defection of over 25 lawmakers loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
This development led to contention over the House leadership, with the faction led by Amaewhule being challenged by a rival group loyal to Fubara and headed by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
Consequently, Fubara has been conducting the business of the state in conjunction with the Oko-Jumbo faction while disregarding the Amaewhule group.
In another judgment on Friday, the Supreme Court sacked all the Rivers’ local government chairpersons elected in October 2024.
According to Channels TV, the judgment delivered by Jamilu Tukur declared the election conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) invalid.
The court declared that the election grossly violated the Electoral Act.
Tukur declared the action of the state electoral commission void for lack of substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and guidelines as the electoral body continued voter registration even after announcing an election date.
The court held that processes leading to the conduct of a local government election were breached in clear violation of Section 150 of the Electoral Act.
The ICIR reported that the African People’s Party (APP) won 22 out of the 23 chairmanship seats in the poll, with the Action Alliance (AA) claiming one.
The election was held amidst accusations of violence, intimidation, and a disrupted political atmosphere.
The ICIR reports heightened tensions in the build-up to the poll across the state.
The ICIR also reported how an explosion rocked the APC secretariat in Port Harcourt just hours before the election.
Fubara and his predecessor – the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – Nyesom Wike, have been at loggerheads over who controls the PDP structure in the state, with President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to resolve the stalemate yielding no result.
A reporter with the ICIR
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