Taiwo Popoola
The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Accountant General of the Federation to stop further release of financial allocations to the Rivers State government with immediate effect.
The apex court directed that the order shall remain in force until the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, halts all his illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional activities.
Specifically, the court ruled that no money shall be released to the state government until a lawful Appropriation Law is enacted under the Martin Amaewhule speakership.
In a judgment delivered on Friday by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, the Supreme Court also ordered the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to resume functions immediately.
The unanimous judgment of the five-member panel of justices, led by Justice Musa Uwani Aba-Aji, nullified all actions carried out by Governor Fubara for being unlawful.
The apex court criticized the governor for engaging in the criminal act of demolishing the House of Assembly with impunity to prevent the 27 legislators from sitting and carrying out lawful activities.
Justice Agim further ordered that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk, who were unlawfully redeployed, must be allowed to resume work alongside the House of Assembly staff.
The court held that it was an aberration for Governor Fubara to operate with only four out of the 32 House of Assembly members under the guise of baseless fears of impeachment.
According to the justices, Fubara, through his unlawful acts, collapsed the House of Assembly and used his immunity under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to carry out acts against the rule of law.
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had declared the actions against the 27 House of Assembly members as unlawful and illegal.
A fine of N10 million was imposed on Fubara, to be paid to the House of Assembly and the 27 members who instituted the suit against him.
The court ruled that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January this year by Governor Siminalayi Fubara is a constitutional aberration that must not be allowed to continue.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court had last year ruled that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to constitutional provisions.
Specifically, the judge stated that Fubara’s action in implementing an unlawful budget constituted gross violations of the 1999 Constitution, which he swore to protect.
The judge had therefore restrained the CBN, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
