Supreme court upholds Rivers allocation freeze, recognises Amaewhule-led assembly

The Supreme Court has upheld a Federal High Court ruling that prohibits the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation from disbursing statutory monthly allocations to Rivers State.

The Supreme Court also directed the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly, along with other elected members, to resume legislative sittings.

The Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly is aligned with Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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In its Friday ruling, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court criticized the Abuja Court of Appeal for overturning the Federal High Court’s judgment.

The Federal High Court had halted the release of funds to Rivers State due to Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s failure to re-present the 2024 Appropriation Bill before the Amaewhule-led Assembly.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim ruled that the 27 lawmakers accused of defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) remain legitimate members of the Rivers State House of Assembly until a final decision is reached in the suit challenging their status.

The members of the Rivers state house of assembly who allegedly defected are still legitimate members of the house of assembly and have the power to conduct the business of the assembly,” the apex court held.

Any other set of individuals purporting to be members of the Rivers state house of assembly led by any other person except Martins Amaewhule is a nullity and their actions null and void.”

Agim held that “by encouraging four out of the 32 members of the Rivers state house of assembly to continue to operate, the governor was operating using only 12.5% of the state assembly, which is illegal”.

“It is an act of indiscipline bordering on excessive use of power, and a joke taken too far which has no place in a democracy,” the judge said, citing the earlier ruling of the federal high court.

“The governor’s fear of impeachment does not justify the destruction of a legitimate democratic institution,” the court ruled.

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The Supreme Court further ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant-General of the Federation to immediately halt the release of all funds, revenues, and allocations to the Rivers State government until a valid budget is presented and approved by the Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly.

The court imposed a N5 million cost against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.