The Court of Appeal has nullified a previous ruling that sought to freeze the statutory allocation and revenue of Rivers State.
The initial judgment, delivered on October 30 by Justice Joyce AbdulMalik of the Federal High Court, had criticized Governor Siminalayi Fubara for presenting the 2024 budget to a four-member Rivers State House of Assembly. Justice AbdulMalik deemed this action unconstitutional and ruled that the governor’s disbursement of monthly allocations since January violated constitutional provisions. The judgment also restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from releasing funds to Rivers State from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Accounts.
Following the ruling, Governor Fubara filed an appeal to overturn the decision and lift the restrictions on the state’s finances.
In its December 13, 2024 decision, the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Hamma Akawu Barka, declared that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to preside over matters related to state revenue. The appellate court supported the argument made by Rivers State’s lead counsel, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, that disputes regarding state revenue fall outside the purview of federal courts.
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Opeoluwa Benson – Content Researcher
