An Abuja Federal High Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing monthly allocations to the Rivers State government.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who presided over the case, stated that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s handling of the state’s 2024 budget was against constitutional rules and shouldn’t be allowed to continue.
Justice Abdulmalik pointed out that the budget was presented by Fubara to only four members of the Rivers House of Assembly, which she considered a violation of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
She ordered the CBN, Accountant-General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank to block further access by the Rivers State government to funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Accounts.
The case, filed under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24, was brought forward by the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
This faction argued that Governor Fubara’s budget proposal, presented to the four-member Assembly faction led by Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, was invalid.
They insisted that Justice Abdulmalik recognized Amaewhule as the rightful Speaker of the Rivers Assembly, with the Court of Appeal also supporting this decision.
The plaintiffs requested the court to withhold all federal allocations to Rivers State, claiming that Governor Fubara had not followed a previous court order to resubmit the 2024 budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly.
They further alleged that the governor continued to withdraw funds without legal approval, violating Section 120 of the 1999 Constitution.
