The supreme court has affirmed the judgment of a federal high court that barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the accountant-general of the federation from releasing statutory monthly allocations to Rivers state.
The apex court also ordered the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers state house of assembly and other elected members of the house loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike to resume sitting.
In October 2024, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations to Rivers State. The federal judge gavehthe judgement on the grounds that the state government was in violation of the Constitution as regarding the state expenditures.
According to the judge, the 2024 budget that was being operated by the state was not passed by a lawful arm of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“There is nothing to prove that the governor complied with the law in submitting the 2024 appropriation before a proper parliament.
“The questions raised by the plaintiffs are meritorious to warrant the grant of the injunctive and declarative reliefs sought” , Justice Abdulmalik held.
The Federal High Court also pointed out that the Rivers State government missed the point when it failed to accept the fact that the state budget had been invalidated by a Federal High Court, adding that the same judgment nullifying the budget was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja recently.
It is this judgment of the lower court that has now been upheld by the Supreme Court.