The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation says
it will adhere to court orders regarding the disbursement of federal
allocations to Rivers State, following recent legal controversies surrounding
the state’s financial entitlements.
Speaking on Friday, the Director of Press and Public
Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, said, “We are going to obey court order.
“Since there is a notice of appeal, the notice of appeal has
overridden the earlier court judgment. So far, it is a court order that we will
obey; if there is a notice of appeal, Rivers will be paid.”
The assurance comes amid a Federal High Court ruling on
October 30, 2024, which directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to withhold
further monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The court ruled that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s
presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly was
unconstitutional.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who delivered the judgment, stated
that since January 2024, allocations received and spent by the state were based
on an illegitimate budget, describing it as a “constitutional aberration.”
The ruling raised questions over the legitimacy of the State
House of Assembly’s composition and its authority to approve budgets.
The judge contended that the governor’s actions ignored
constitutional requirements for budget approval by a fully constituted House of
Assembly.
Delivering judgment in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2024, Justice
Abdulmalik declared that decisions made by the four-member Fubara-backed
Assembly were void, referencing prior rulings by the Federal High Court and the
Court of Appeal that had annulled its authority.
The ruling also held that Fubara’s actions violated Sections
91 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution, and warned that any continued bypassing of
legislative processes constituted an affront to the rule of law.
The court’s decision followed a suit filed by the State
House of Assembly faction led by Martin Amaewhule, challenging the legitimacy
of the four-member faction loyal to Fubara.
The Amaewhule-led Assembly had earlier declared in July that
all state expenditures would be halted until the governor resubmitted his
budget to the legitimate legislative body.
Justice Abdulmalik denied a request to stay the proceedings,
dismissing the application as “frivolous and vexatious.” She also refused to
recuse herself from the case, rejecting the defence’s allegations of bias.
However, the Rivers State Government swiftly filed a notice
of appeal against the ruling.
This came as the governor celebrated one of the failed
attempts to impeach him by the Amaewhule-led state Assembly faction loyal to
the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications,
Joseph Johnson, earlier told The PUNCH that the judgment had been appealed,
expressing optimism that the Appeal Court would upturn the judgment.
He said the pointers to the anticipated judgment were
glaring, adding that they were unperturbed as they had already instituted an
appeal against the Federal High Court’s judgment.
The OAGF has now confirmed that the appeal effectively
overrides the earlier court decision, ensuring that allocations to the state
will continue pending the final outcome of the legal process.
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