Kehinde Fajobi
The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has pledged to comply with court directives regarding the disbursement of federal allocations to Rivers State, amid legal disputes over the state’s financial entitlements.
Speaking to The PUNCH on Friday, Bawa Mokwa, the OAGF’s Director of Press and Public Relations, stated, “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.”
This assurance follows a Federal High Court ruling on October 30, 2024, which ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to withhold monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The court deemed Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly unconstitutional.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who delivered the ruling, described the budget as a “constitutional aberration” and declared all decisions made by the four-member assembly void.
She argued that Fubara’s actions violated Sections 91 and 96 of the 1999 Constitution, which require a fully constituted legislature for budget approval.
The court’s decision followed a suit filed by the faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaewhule, challenging the legitimacy of the four-member faction loyal to Fubara.
Justice Abdulmalik dismissed a request to stay proceedings and refused to recuse herself, calling the defence’s claims of bias “frivolous and vexatious.”
In response, the Rivers State Government filed an appeal against the ruling.
The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, expressed optimism about the outcome.
“The judgment has been appealed. The pointers to the anticipated judgment are glaring, and we remain unperturbed,” he said.
With the notice of appeal in place, the OAGF confirmed that the earlier judgment has been overridden, allowing allocations to Rivers State to continue pending the final resolution of the case.