The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) says it will adhere to court orders regarding the disbursement of federal allocations to Rivers State, following recent legal battles surrounding the state’s financial entitlements.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, Bawa Mokwa, said, “We are going to obey court order.
“Since there is a notice of appeal, the notice of appeal has overridden the earlier court judgment. So far, it is a court order that we will obey; if there is a notice of appeal, Rivers will be paid.”
The promise comes in the wake of a Federal High Court order on October 30, 2024, that directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to withhold additional monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The court determined that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly was illegal.
The judgement was issued by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who ruled that since January 2024, the state’s allocations have been based on an invalid budget, which she described as a “constitutional aberration.”
The verdict called into doubt the legitimacy of the State House of Assembly’s composition and budget-approval authority.
The judge argued that the governor’s actions violated constitutional requirements for budget approval by a fully constituted House of Assembly.
Justice Abdulmalik declared that decisions made by the four-member Fubara-backed Assembly were void, citing prior orders by the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal that had nullified its power.
The verdict also stated that Fubara’s conduct violated Sections 91 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution and warned that any further circumvention of legislative processes was an affront to the rule of law.
The court’s judgement came in response to a lawsuit filed by the State House of Assembly faction led by Martin Amaewhule, which challenged the validity of the four-member faction loyal to Fubara.
The Amaewhule-led Assembly had already decided in July that all state expenditures would be suspended until the governor resubmitted his budget to the proper legislative body.
Justice Abdulmalik refused the motion to suspend the proceedings, calling it “frivolous and vexatious.” She also declined to disqualify herself from the case, denying the defence’s claims of bias.
However, the Rivers State Government promptly launched an appeal against the verdict.
This occurred when the governor commemorated one of the failed attempts to impeach him by the Amaewhule-led state assembly party loyal to FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The state commissioner for information and communications, Joseph Johnson, previously informed The Press that the judgement had been appealed, expressing confidence that the appeals court would overturn it.
He said the hints to the upcoming judgement were obvious, but they were unconcerned because they had already filed an appeal against the Federal High Court’s decision.
The OAGF has now acknowledged that the appeal effectively trumps the previous court ruling, ensuring that state allocations will continue awaiting the result of the legal process.
