The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it has ceased disbursing funds to Rivers State.
Earlier on Friday, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) announced that it had withheld the October revenue payment to Rivers State, citing a Federal High Court ruling.
Bawa Mokwa, the OAGF spokesperson, told journalists that the government would comply with the court order halting the allocation and would only resume disbursement if a contrary directive is issued.
“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’s allocation,” he said.
The OAGF’s spokesperson further noted that due diligence would be followed “as long as there is no contrary order,” adding that “the process of disbursement of the October 2024 monthly allocation is going.”
The development comes amid ongoing the protracted political battle between Governor Fubara and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Speaking later to Saturday Tribune, Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press in the office of the Accountant General of the Federation stated that “disbursement of October allocation to states and local governments by FAAC is ongoing.”
He explained that “Rivers State will benefit because of a subsisting appeal/stay of execution order.”
The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday reserved judgment in five separate appeals related to rulings by a Federal High Court in Abuja concerning the political crisis in Rivers State.
One of the appeals challenges the Federal High Court’s decision to bar the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from releasing federal allocations to Rivers State.
Presiding Justice Hamma Barka stated that the court would announce a judgment date after all the filings in the appeals had been adopted by the parties. The appeals include CA/ABJ/CV/1277/2024, CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024, CA/ABJ/CV/1293/2024, CA/ABJ/CV/1287/2024, and CA/ABJ/CV/1196/2024, which challenge Federal High Court rulings delivered on October 30 and October 2, 2024.
During the proceedings, Yusuf Ali, SAN, representing Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara in appeal CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024, requested that the five appeals be consolidated, a request the court granted.
Earlier, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had ruled on October 30 to stop the CBN from releasing Rivers State’s monthly financial allocations. She held that Governor Fubara’s receipt and disbursement of allocations since January 2024 were unconstitutional and must be halted.
The ruling stemmed from a suit filed by the Rivers State House of Assembly and its Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule. Justice Abdulmalik found that the governor’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly violated constitutional provisions.
The court declared the implementation of the 2024 budget unlawful and restrained the CBN, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from granting Governor Fubara access to funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
Justice Abdulmalik further noted that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal had nullified the actions of the four-member House of Assembly, which the governor relied upon to justify the 2024 budget. The Rivers State High Court judgment that initially empowered the governor to implement the budget was also overturned by the Court of Appeal.
The judge ruled that the 2024 Appropriation Bill, not having been lawfully passed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, was unconstitutional and void.
According to the Judge, “It is mandatory to present Appropriation Bills before the appropriate Houses of Assembly before legitimate disbursement and withdrawal can be made.”
She also issued another order of injunction which restrained Fubara, Accountant General of the state and their agents from authorizing the withdrawal of money from the Rivers state bank accounts domiciled at the Zenith Bank and Access Bank until the budget of the state is passed by the appropriate House of Assembly.
The suit, which has the Rivers State House of Assembly and Rt Hon Martin Chike Amaewhule as plaintiffs, has the CBN, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Accountant General of the Federation, Rivers State governor, Accountant General of Rivers, Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, Hon Justice S. C. Amadi, Chief judge of Rivers state, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, chairman of RSIEC and Rivers State government as defendants.