Rivers Allocation: Accountant-General, Appeal Court Take Major Actions Over High Court's Order

• The Court of Appeal in Abuja reserved judgment on an appeal filed by Rivers State, challenging a Federal High Court order halting the release of federal allocations to the state by the CBN
• Rivers State Government, represented by Governor Fubara’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Yusuf Ali, urged the Court of Appeal to nullify the previous ruling
• The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) halted the disbursement of Rivers State’s October federal allocation

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday, November 22, reserved judgment on an appeal challenging the Federal High Court's order to stop the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from releasing monthly federal allocations to Rivers State.

The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Hamma Barka, heard arguments in the appeal filed by the Rivers State Government and Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The appeal seeks to overturn a ruling made on October 30 by Federal High Court judge Joyce AbdulMalik, which declared the disbursement of federal allocations to Rivers State since January 2024 as a constitutional breach.

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The judge had also barred the CBN, the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the state’s banks from allowing the state government access to funds from the Federation Account and Consolidated Revenue, Premium Times reported.

Rivers state government's legal challenge

At the hearing, Governor Fubara’s lawyer, Yusuf Ali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), urged the Court of Appeal to vacate the Federal High Court's order.

Ali argued that the court should allow the state’s appeal and nullify the judgment that has caused financial uncertainty for Rivers State.

Meanwhile, the factional Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, supported the lower court's decision.

Their legal representative, Joseph Daudu, SAN, argued that Governor Fubara’s refusal to comply with a court order concerning the 2024 Appropriation Bill justified withholding the state’s monthly allocations, The Punch reported.

After the hearing, the Court of Appeal panel merged five appeals related to the case into one. The date for delivering the judgment will be communicated to the involved parties.

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Accountant-General’s office halts payments

In compliance with the Federal High Court’s ruling, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) announced that it had halted the disbursement of Rivers State’s October federal allocation.

Bawa Mokwa, spokesperson for the OAGF, confirmed that the payment had not yet been made and emphasized that the federal government would comply with the court’s directive.

“The October 2024 FAAC has not been distributed yet, and as long as there is no contrary order, we will obey the court order,” Mokwa stated.

This action comes amid the ongoing political conflict between Governor Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike, whose faction of the state assembly has remained loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Rivers LG election: Appeal court overturns High court's judgement

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that on Thursday, November 21, the Court of Appeal in Abuja nullified the Federal High Court’s decision that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the conduct of the state local government polls which has now been conducted.

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Rivers allocations: Fubara asks Appeal court to urgently overturn High court order, gives reasons

Delivering judgement on Thursday, November 21, the special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter, stating that Section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states, only federal elections, governorship and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Source: Legit.ng