The Federal Government confirms Rivers State will continue to receive its federal allocation despite ongoing legal battles.
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has stated that it will comply with court orders concerning the distribution of federal allocations to Rivers State, in light of recent legal disputes over the state’s financial entitlements.
On Friday, Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, stated, “We will comply with the court order.”
“The notice of appeal supersedes the earlier court judgment, making it a current court order that we will comply with. As long as there is an ongoing appeal process, payment to Rivers will proceed.”
This assurance follows a ruling by the Federal High Court on October 30, 2024, instructing the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt further monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The court determined that it was unconstitutional for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the 2024 budget to a House of Assembly consisting of only four members.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, in her judgment, indicated that since January 2024, the allocations received and utilized by the state were founded on an invalid budget. She characterized this as a “constitutional aberration.”
The ruling brought into question the legitimacy of the composition of the State House of Assembly and its authority to approve budgets.
The judge argued that the governor’s actions disregarded the constitutional requirements for budget approval by a fully assembled House of Assembly.
In delivering the verdict for case FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2024, Justice Abdulmalik stated that all decisions made by the four-member Assembly supported by Fubara were null and void. He cited previous rulings from both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal that had invalidated its authority.
The decision also determined that Fubara’s actions breached Sections 91 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution, cautioning that any further disregard for legislative procedures represented a challenge to the rule of law.
The court’s decision came after a lawsuit was filed by the State House of Assembly faction, headed by Martin Amaewhule, questioning the legitimacy of Fubara’s four-member loyalist group.
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In July, the Assembly under Amaewhule’s leadership announced that all state expenditures would be suspended until the governor resubmitted his budget to the legitimate legislative body.
Justice Abdulmalik rejected a request to halt the proceedings, labeling it as “frivolous and vexatious.” She also declined to step down from the case, dismissing the defense’s claims of bias against her.
Nevertheless, the Rivers State Government quickly submitted a notice of appeal challenging the ruling.
This occurred as the governor was celebrating one of the unsuccessful attempts to impeach him by the Amaewhule-led faction of the state Assembly, which is loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, previously mentioned that an appeal had been filed against the judgment. He expressed optimism that the Appeals Court would overturn it.
He stated that the indications of the expected judgment were obvious, and added that they remained unfazed since they had already filed an appeal against the Federal High Court’s decision.
The OAGF has now confirmed that the appeal effectively overturns the previous court ruling, guaranteeing that allocations to the state will be maintained until a final decision is reached in the legal proceedings.
