The Supreme Court on Friday barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation and other agencies from releasing funds to Rivers State Government forthwith until a valid Appropriation Act is passed by a lawfully constituted House of Assembly, with Martins Amaewhule as the Speaker.
In a ninety-six-minute judgement delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, the five-man panel of the court unanimously dismissed the cross-appeal filed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara challenging the validity of the House of Assembly presided over by Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker and ordered Amaewhule to resume sitting immediately with other elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The apex court criticized Governor Fubara for demolishing the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex, describing it as an act of indiscipline bordering on the excessive use of executive might to frustrate the sitting of the Assembly led by Amaewhule and thus preventing the Assembly from carrying out lawful activities.
The court held that it was an aberration for Governor Fubara to have purportedly presented an appropriation bill before a four-man House of Assembly, thereby denying 28 constituencies of effective representation in a flagrant violation of a court order mandating him (Fubara) to re-present the 2024 appropriation bill before a validly constituted Assembly led by Amaewhule.
The Supreme Court further held that Fubara, through his unlawful acts, collapsed the House of Assembly and used his immunity under Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to carry out acts against the rule of law.
It ruled that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January this year by Governor Fubara was a constitutional aberration that must not be allowed to continue.
The court ordered that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk, who were unlawfully redeployed, be allowed to resume work alongside the House of Assembly staff.
The Supreme Court also affirmed the judgements of both the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court in Abuja, which had declared the actions against the 27 House of Assembly members as unlawful and illegal.
The Federal High Court in Abuja presided by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik had last year ruled that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront on constitutional provisions.
Specifically, the judge had stated that Fubara’s action in implementing an unlawful budget constituted gross violations of the 1999 Constitution, which he swore to protect.
The judge had therefore restrained the CBN, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
In another judgement, the Supreme Court invalidated the local government election conducted on 5 October 2024 by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for grossly violating the Electoral Act.
In a judgement delivered by Justice Jamilu Tukur, the court said the action of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission was void for lack of substantial compliance to the Electoral Act and guidelines as the electoral body continued voter registration even after announcing an election date.
The court held that processes leading to the conduct of a local government election were abridged in clear violation of Section 150 of the Electoral Act.
