The Appeal Court Abuja has overturned all orders prohibiting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation from disbursing cash to the Rivers State government.
According to the three-member panel, which was chaired by Justice Hamman Barka, the topic of the state revenue was outside the court’s jurisdiction.
The appellate court allowed the Rivers State government to appeal, but it also declared all of Justice Joyce Abdulmalik’s orders unconstitutional because they prohibited the state from using its consolidated revenue fund to pay the Rivers State government.
The appellate court ruled that the lower court had overreached itself and lacked the authority to consider the case.
Justice Abdulmalik of the Abuja Federal High Court ruled in October that Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s receipt and distribution of monthly allocations since January of this year constituted an anomaly and a violation of the Constitution that could not be permitted to continue.
The judge ruled that Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget to the four-member Rivers House of Assembly violated the constitution.
The governor’s behaviour was a flagrant violation of the 1999 Constitution, according to Justice Abdulmalik.
The judge then ordered Zenith Bank, Access Bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Accountant General of the Federation to stop granting Fubara additional access to funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
