Governor Siminalayi Fubara has petitioned the Court of Appeal to overturn a Federal High Court judgment preventing the Central Bank of Nigeria from releasing monthly allocations to Rivers State.

Gov. Fubara, represented by Yusuf Ali, SAN, argued that the high court order was issued “in bad faith” and urged its reversal. The appellate court, led by Justice Hamma Barka, consolidated five related appeals from various parties, including the Rivers State Government and Zenith Bank. The appeals were marked as: CA/ABJ/CV/1277/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1196/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1287/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1293/24 and CA/ABJ/CV/1360/2024.

The restraining order stems from a suit filed by a faction of the Rivers State Assembly citing Gov. Fubara’s alleged non-compliance with a 2024 budget-related directive. They had sought to withhold federal allocations due to Fubara’s refusal to engage with them in legislative matters.

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The restraining order followed a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24, which was brought before the court by the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers House of Assembly.

Defendants in the matter are the Central Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Others are Fubara, the Accountant-General of Rivers; Rivers Independent Electoral Commission; Chief Judge of Rivers, Hon. Justice S.C. Amadi; Chairman of RSIEC, retired Justice Adolphus Enebeli and the Government of Rivers.

Fubara claims the Assembly members lost their legitimacy after defecting from the PDP to the APC.

Judgment has been reserved, with a decision to be communicated later.

Recall that the Federal Government officially halted the October monthly revenue payments from the Federation Account Allocation Committee to Rivers State. This decision was made, following a court order that restricts the disbursement of funds to the state.

Bawa Mokwa, the spokesperson for the Accountant General of the Federation, said the suspension adheres to a ruling by the Federal High Court that prevents the Central Bank of Nigeria from releasing monthly allocations to Rivers State.

His words: “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.”

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