Newbreak: Abuja High Court Stops LG funds for Rivers State
By Abuka Omaji
A Federal Court in Abuja has stopped the allocation of funds to Rivers State Local Councils.
In what represented the first test of the meaning of the recent Supreme Court Judgement that orders Federal Government direct allocation to Local Governments, the Court has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt transfer of funds to Rivers State.
The decision may cripped economic activities in the oil rich state.
The ruling has been hailed by centralists as a heroic Judgment while others warned that the ruling was an assault on the fundamental principles of Federalism.
The Abuja High Court ruling which arose from the Supreme Court position has now confirmed how the apex court ruling can further undermine the balance of power in Nigeria.
“It clearly shows that the Federal Government through the Courts can choke states for political reasons,” Geneal Secretary Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movements, (AYDM) told Irohinoodua on Wednesday
The Abuja Federal High Court ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to cease further disbursements of monthly financial allocations to the Rivers State Government.
Making her case, Justice Justice Joyce Abdulmalik said the receipt and distribution of monthly allocations by Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara since January this year constituted a breach of the Constitution.
The Court said it is an aberration that must not continue.
The judge said that Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to constitutional provisions.
Justice Abdulmalik said Fubara conducts is significant violation of the 1999 Constitution.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank were then barred from allowing Fubara to access funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
