Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Friday urged the Court of Appeal to overturn a judgment barring the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from disbursing monthly allocations to Rivers State......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
Represented by his counsel, Yusuf Ali, SAN, the governor made his plea before a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Hamma Barka. Fubara argued that the Federal High Court’s decision, delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik on Oct. 30, was issued in bad faith. He asked the appellate court to set aside the adverse orders and grant his appeal, marked CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024.
On the same day, the appellate court consolidated five other appeals connected to the high court’s ruling. These cases, filed by various appellants including the Rivers State Government, the state’s Accountant-General, and Zenith Bank Plc, were tagged CA/ABJ/CV/1277/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1196/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1287/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1293/24, and CA/ABJ/CV/1360/2024.
The Federal High Court had previously issued an order restraining the CBN from granting the Rivers government access to funds from the consolidated revenue account.
This ruling stemmed from a suit filed by the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly, tagged FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24.
Defendants in the case include the CBN, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Gov. Fubara, the Rivers Accountant-General, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), its Chairman Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), Rivers Chief Judge Justice S.C. Amadi, and the state government.
In their submissions, the appellants, through their legal representatives, sought the appellate court’s intervention to nullify the high court’s decision. Meanwhile, the Amaewhule-led faction, represented by J.B. Daudu, SAN, argued for the dismissal of the appeals and urged the appellate court to uphold the lower court’s judgment.
The high court’s order was reportedly influenced by the factional assembly members’ claims that Fubara failed to comply with a directive to resubmit the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill for approval. The faction, loyal to former Rivers Governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, petitioned the court to withhold all federal allocations to the state.
In response, Fubara maintained that the Amaewhule-led group no longer had legislative standing, having defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under which they were elected, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
After hearing arguments from all parties, the appellate court reserved judgment, with the date to be communicated later.
