Governor Fubara Acts After Federal Allocations Are Prohibited

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has appealed a court decision that prohibits the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from providing his state with monthly allocations. The October monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue transfer to the state has been halted, the Nigerian government just revealed. On Friday, Bawa Mokwa, the spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, stated that the payment was halted in accordance with a court order. In the meantime, a motion to reverse the decision has been submitted to the Court of Appeal in Abuja by Fubara's legal team, which is headed by Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN.

The Federal High Court's Justice Joyce Abdulmalik rendered the decision on October 30 in response to a lawsuit brought by the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly. Citing Fubara's failure to submit the state's 2024 Appropriation Bill as instructed by the court, the lawsuit attempted to prevent the CBN from disbursing monies to the state. However, Governor Fubara has maintained that the Amaewhule-led group can no longer be considered legitimate lawmakers because they switched from the PDP to the APC. Five other appeals from the same case were taken into consideration together with Fubara's appeal, which is registered as CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024. The date of the verdict will be announced later.