Supreme Court Reinstates Ruling Against CBN Fund Releases to Rivers State
ABUJA – In a significant legal development on Friday, the Supreme Court reinstated an earlier ruling prohibiting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation from disbursing statutory monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The Court directed the faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Hon. Martins Amaewhule, along with other duly elected members, to immediately resume their legislative duties without any hindrances.
This ruling came in response to the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn an initial order that had put a stop to the allocation of funds from the consolidated revenue to Rivers State. The Supreme Court’s judgment highlighted Governor Siminalaye Fubara’s failure to re-present the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the Amaewhule-led faction as a critical issue in the case.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, with Justice Emmanuel Agim authoring the lead opinion, criticized the appellate court for misinterpreting the central issue by limiting it to Rivers State’s consolidated revenue. This misunderstanding led the appellate court to wrongly conclude that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked jurisdiction over the lawsuit brought by the 27 lawmakers from the Amaewhule faction, who sought to challenge the unauthorized withdrawals and expenditures of state funds.
The Supreme Court confirmed the position of the lower court that the 27 lawmakers, who were accused of defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), remain legitimate members of the Rivers State Assembly until their status is conclusively determined.
In dismissing Governor Fubara’s argument for invoking the doctrine of necessity, which he claimed justified presenting the Appropriation Bill solely to the diminished assembly of five remaining members, the Supreme Court stated that such a doctrine could not be used to rationalize unlawful actions.
The Supreme Court accused Governor Fubara of undermining the state’s governance due to his apprehension of potential impeachment. Consequently, it imposed a cost of N5 million against him for his actions.
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