Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara
By Victory Oghene
The federal government under the watch of President Bola Tinubu has halted the October monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue payment to Rivers State, citing a court order as the reason.
The development comes amid an ongoing dispute between Rivers State Governor Simi Fubara and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nyesom Wike.
According to Bawa Mokwa, Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the decision to stop the payment is in respect of the court order, which bars the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian government from disbursing monthly allocations to the Rivers State government.
The court order was obtained by the factional Rivers State Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, who had filed an originating summons against the Rivers State Executive, under the leadership of Simi Fubara.
The Amaewhule faction had alleged that the Rivers State Executive was yet to comply with the order of a Federal High Court directing it to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill to the faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Mokwa, who spoke on Friday, emphasised that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) would respect the court order, following due diligence until a contrary order is issued.
The FAAC typically disburses revenue to the three tiers of government, including states, local governments, and the federal government.
He said, “What I got is that the October 2024 FAAC has not been distributed yet. However, the Federal Government will obey the court order on the matter of Rivers State allocation.
“We are going to follow due diligence as long as there is no contrary order. In case there is a contrary, the status will remain.”
He added, “The process of disbursement of the October 2024 monthly allocation is going.”
Meanwhile, Fubara, has asked the court of appeal to set aside the order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from further disbursing financial allocations to the state government.
Yusuf Ali, counsel to Fubara, told the appellant court on Friday that the judgment of the lower court was issued in bad faith.
It would be recalled that last October 30, a federal high court in Abuja restrained the CBN from disbursing financial allocations to the Rivers state government.
The court held that monies from the federation account should not be released to the state pending the passage of a lawful appropriation act by a validly constituted house of assembly.
Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, delivered the judgment in a suit filed by the Rivers state house of assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.
Abdulmalik held that Fubara was wrong to have presented the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to a five-member assembly “that was not properly constituted”.
In December 2023, Fubara presented an N800 billion budget estimate to the Edison Ehie faction of the house of assembly.
The presentation of the budget titled ‘Budget of renewed hope, consolidation, and continuity’ took place at the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Dissatisfied with the ruling of the lower court, Fubara and the Rivers state government approached the appeal court.
On Thursday, the three-member panel led by Hamma Barka consolidated the five other appeals that arose from the judgment of the high court.
At the court proceedings on Friday, the appellants urged the court to dismiss the verdict of the lower court.
J.B. Dauda, lead counsel to the Amaewhule-led faction, asked the court to dismiss the appeals and affirm the judgment of the lower court.
After all the parties adopted their briefs of argument, the panel reserved its judgment to a date that would be communicated to the parties.
