The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, OAGF, will honor court rulings on federal allocations for Rivers State amid ongoing legal battles.

The Director of Press and Public Relations at OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, in a statement  explained : “We will follow the court order. Since a notice of appeal has been filed, it takes precedence over the previous court judgment. As it stands, we are abiding by the court’s directive, and Rivers State will receive its allocations.”

This statement follows a Federal High Court ruling on October 30, 2024, which ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt further monthly allocations to Rivers State. The ruling was based on the unconstitutionality of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who delivered the judgment, argued that since January 2024, the state’s budget allocations had been disbursed under an illegitimate budget, describing it as a “constitutional aberration.”

The court also questioned the legitimacy of the State House of Assembly’s composition and its authority to approve budgets. Justice Abdulmalik emphasized that the governor’s actions violated constitutional provisions requiring a fully constituted House of Assembly for budget approval.

In the case, FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2024, the court declared that decisions made by the four-member assembly aligned with Fubara’s administration were null and void. This followed prior rulings by both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which had annulled the legitimacy of the Fubara-backed assembly. The ruling also found that the governor’s actions violated Sections 91 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution, warning that continued disregard for legislative procedures undermined the rule of law.

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The court’s decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule, challenging the legitimacy of the assembly faction loyal to Fubara. The Amaewhule-led assembly had previously declared in July that all state expenditures should cease until the governor resubmitted his budget to the legitimate legislative body.

Justice Abdulmalik dismissed a request to stay the ruling, calling the application “frivolous and vexatious,” and rejected claims of judicial bias.

In response, the Rivers State Government promptly filed an appeal. The governor also marked the failure of an impeachment attempt by the Amaewhule-led assembly faction, which had been aligned with FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, had previously expressed confidence that the appeal would overturn the judgment, highlighting the government’s optimism about the upcoming legal developments.

The OAGF has now confirmed that the appeal has overridden the previous court ruling, ensuring that Rivers State will continue to receive its federal allocations while the legal process unfolds.

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