Reminiscent of the time under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when federal allocations to local governments in Lagos State were seized, a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations from the consolidated funds to the Rivers State government.
Reacting to the development, on Wednesday, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, revealed that he was ambushed in the presidential peace accord held in Abuja to reconcile the political crisis between him and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Fubara said those who attempted to end his administration undemocratically had boasted that they will boot him out of office within one week, but they failed woefully.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar also reacted to the situation in Rivers State, cautioning the judiciary against setting the state on fire.
In 2004, when Obasanjo unilaterally withheld local government allocations to Lagos State on the grounds that the state’s creation of 37 new local councils was unconstitutional, the then state governor, Bola Tinubu, now Nigeria’s president, dragged the federal government to the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgement at the time, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Muhammadu Uwais, ruled in favour of Lagos State, declaring the federal government’s withholding of the local government allocations as unconstitutional.
Aside Uwais, other justices that sat over the matter between the Attorney General of Lagos State (Plaintiff) and Attorney General of the Federation (Defendant) were Idris Kutigi, Anthony Iguh, Niki Tobi, Dennis Edozie, and Sunday Akintan.
However, while the Lagos State’s case against the federal government was over the creation of additional council areas, the extant case is about the legality of the presentation of the 2024 budget being implemented by the Rivers State government.
In the judgement delivered December 10, 2004, their Lordships decided, “The President has no power vested in him (by executive or administrative action) to suspend or withhold for any period whatsoever the statutory allocation due and payable to Lagos State Government pursuant to the provisions of section 162 (5) of the 1999 Constitution… “
The Supreme Court also made a consequential order “Compelling the defendant to pay immediately all outstanding statutory allocation due and payable to the Lagos State Government pursuant to the provisions of section 165(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999…”
In addition, it made an “Order of perpetual injunction restraining the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, or any functionaries or agencies of Executive Branch of the Federal Government from doing anything whatsoever to suspend, withhold, for any period whatsoever or calculated to suspend or withhold any monies due and payable to the Lagos State government pursuant to the provisions of section 162 (5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The questions many Nigerians are asking are, can a court make such consequential pronouncement that effectively cripples a sub-national state and component unit of the federation with huge resource contribution to the federation account? Can a court stop the constitutionally mandated resource allocation to a component unit of the federation on the grounds of disputed presentation of budget estimates for a particular year? Where did the federal high court derive the powers to prevent a unit of the federation from get its statutory due?
Nigeria has a sharing formula which allocates 52.68 per cent, 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent to the Federal, State and Local Governments, respectively. The 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent accruing to the States and Local Governments is further shared by applying factors such as equality, population, land mass, and social development, among others.
While in the 2004 case the allocations belonging to the Lagos councils were withheld till Obasanjo left office and were paid off by his successor, the late Umar Musa Yar’Adua, the stopped allocations to Rivers State were the statutory monthly allocations due to the state from the federation account.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik made the order while delivering judgement in a suit filed by a faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the 27 lawmakers under the speakership of Martin Amaewhule.
The judge predicated her action on the grounds that the state government was in violation of the constitution as regards the state expenditures.
According to the judge, the current budget being operated by the state was not passed by a lawful arm of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Following the alleged defection of 27 lawmakers from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that sponsored them to office, a division had erupted in the state legislature.
There was the Amaewhule-led faction, said to be loyal to Wike, and the Ehie Edison-led four-member group loyal to Fubara.
Insisting that the Amaewhule-led faction was no longer recognised on account of their defection, the governor had last December presented the 2024 appropriation to the Edison-led four-member legislators.
Miffed by the action, the Amaewhule-led faction approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, to challenge the action of the state government.
In his judgement earlier this year, Justice James Omotosho faulted Fubara for presenting the state appropriation before the four-member Assembly led by Edison.
Omotosho subsequently ordered the governor to re-present the bill before the Amaewhule-led faction, which the court held was the authentic state lawmakers of the state.
Months after the order to re-present the budget, the governor refused to abide by the court’s order, and insisted that the alleged defectors were no longer lawmakers of the state.
While the state government appealed the judgements, including that of the appellate court, which affirmed the judgement of Omotosho directing Fubara to re-present the 2024 budget, the Amaewhule group filed another suit before Abdulmalik, seeking to stop allocations accruable to the state, until the judgement of the court was complied with.
The plaintiffs said the action of the government was not only unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful, but also an affront to the principle of separation of powers.
Delivering judgement on Wednesday, Abdulmalik held that the defendants failed to show any prove that the governor complied with the law in submitting the 2024 appropriation before a proper legislature.
He held that the judgement of a Rivers State High Court, which Fubara leveraged to present the appropriation before a four-member legislator, had been set aside by the appellate court.
“The questions raised by the plaintiffs are meritorious to warrant the grant of the injunctive and declarative reliefs sought,” Abdulmalik held.
Specifically, the court pointed out that the Rivers State government missed the point when it failed to accept the fact that the state budget had been invalidated by a Federal High Court, and added that the same judgement nullifying the budget was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, recently.
The judge observed that Fubara’s action in implementing unlawful budget, having not been passed by the appropriate House of Assembly, smacked of gross violations of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.
Subsequently, the court made an order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from further releasing monthly allocations from the consolidated revenue and federation account to the Rivers State government.
The court held, “Appropriation Bill for January to December 2024, being operated by the 5th defendant (Fubara), having not been charged by the lawful House of Assembly is illegal, unlawful and subversion of the 1999 Constitution.
“It is mandatory to present the appropriation bills before the appropriate House of Assembly before legitimate disbursement and withdrawal can be made.
“In the instant case, the 5th defendant (Fubara) has not presented any budgetary appropriation known to law to any legitimate House of Assembly. Sections 120, 122 and 197 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have not been complied with.
“It is unwarranted assault to the constitutional order for anybody, including the 5th defendant to be allowed or permitted to continue to breach and violate Sections 91 and 96 of the constitution to implement budget that was not approved by the legislative arm.
“Every individual must subject to the rule of law, using illegally constituted House of Assembly to disburse public fund must not be allowed.”
Fubara: I Was Ambushed in Peace Deal
Fubara clarified that the ambush was not done by the initiator of the agreement, President Bola Tinubu, but by those who tried to play smart to forcefully takeover the leadership of the state.
He spoke at the State Thanksgiving, Praise and Worship, held at the Main Bowl of Alfred Diette-Spiff Civic Centre, along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt Old Township.
It was a commemoration service to thank God over the failed attempt to abruptly end his administration on October 30, 2023.
Fubara said while he sincerely implemented the details of the presidential peace accord, including withdrawing legal suits, the other party violated the accord, and went ahead to pursue their suits and secured judgement in their favour.
The governor stated, “We made a promise to you that we will continue to defend and protect the interest of Rivers State genuinely, and we are not going back on that. We will do it, and we will follow through with it. With your support, we will journey it to the end.
“Because we are people of peace, if there is any advantage that was taken over us, it is because of our genuine interest for peace. The preacher said something about peace.
“I want to tell you that we went to Abuja and Mr President, knowing the importance of peace of Rivers State, brought out some conditions. We came back here in this state.
“First, we did everything that has to be done with those conditions. We went to court immediately, withdrew our matters, but they did not. And you call yourself honourable, when you cannot even obey simple instruction, and you blame it on Fubara.
“How is Fubara the problem? Fubara is not the problem! It was because we withdrew our matter, even the matter you filed, and we said we don’t want to continue: you took advantage of it, and went and got judgement. Is it not fraud?”
Fubara said such dishonourable persons should not come to the public to demand that people must listen to them. He insisted that he acted more honourably, believing that the agreement should be what should bind everybody together.
He stated, “When I discovered that I am being ambushed, not by the person who initiated the peace, but by people who believed that they are smarter. But you know such smartness, no matter what you call yourself, it is still foolishness before God.
“That is why, as they said, those other things that they are looking for, to make them feel they are coming back to life, we will not do it. So, let me see how they will come to life when we don’t do it.”
Fubara said those who attempted to end his administration within one week had failed.
He said he had not only stayed in office for more than one year and counting, but his administration was also forging ahead strongly with sterling leadership, focused on delivering social services and quality projects to Rivers people.
Atiku to Judiciary: Don’t Set Rivers on Fire
Atiku cautioned the judiciary not to set Rivers State on fire, in the wake of Wednesday’s judgement by a Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the halting of all allocations to the state.
In a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, the former vice president said it was appalling that some elements loyal to the federal government were pulling the strings from behind.
Atiku wondered why Abdulmalik issued the order when it was public knowledge that Rivers State had already challenged the Court of Appeal’s judgement on the legality of Rivers State’s 2024 budget.
He stated, “Last week the Court of Appeal declared that the Rivers State budget was illegal because it was passed by an inchoate assembly. The court ordered Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the budget afresh.
“The Rivers State Government has already filed a notice of appeal so that the Supreme Court can hear the matter. However, some elements in the Bola Tinubu administration have procured a judgement intended to undermine the Supreme Court.
“Even before the judgement was delivered, legal luminary, Femi Falana, SAN, had alerted the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, of possible compromise after house gifts had been presented to judges in Abuja. Sadly, Falana’s warning was ignored.”
Atiku hailed the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, for summoning judges sitting on the Rivers State cases.
He called on the country’s top judge to ensure that those found wanting were disciplined.
The former vice president said, “Nigeria has descended into the theatre of the absurd since the Tinubu administration took office. Courts are playing a more ignoble role in fostering political crises within political parties and even in states.
“From the Emirship tussle in Kano State to the Rivers imbroglio, where courts are going as far as preventing elections from holding, taking Nigeria back to the dark days of June 12, 1993 where polls were annulled.
“Sadly, under the leadership of those who claim to have fought for Nigeria’s democracy, the country is descending into chaos with conflicting orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction flying all over the place while judges are being induced in the name of empowerment and provision of houses.
“The result is that Nigerians are gradually losing confidence in an institution, which prides itself as the last hope of the common man. Foreign investors will avoid any place where judgements can be bought by the highest bidder.
“Nigeria should not descend to the Hobbesian state of nature, where life is short, nasty and brutish, where citizens opt for self-help. Rivers State accounts for almost 25 per cent of Nigeria’s oil assets.
“For a country facing an economic crisis worsened by vandalism and banditry, Tinubu should put his 2027 ambition aside and put Nigeria’s interest first. We call on the Nigerian judiciary to restore its image before it gets too late.”
Judgement Avoidable, Says Okocha
Embattled Caretaker Committee Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, said the judgement would have been avoided if Fubara had listened to wise counsel.
Okocha said, “Governor Fubara missed an opportunity to remedy the situation when he showed disrespect and disregard to President Bola Tinubu, by disregarding the 8-Point Peace Pact.
“The situation escalated to an irredeemable point when Governor Fubara started listening to crisis entrepreneurs and political merchants, who advised him to disobey, disregard, and talk down on court judgements.”
LG Arson: Witness Puts Damages at N3.2bn
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Judicial Panel of Inquiry commenced its investigation into the arson attack on local government council secretariats that occurred on October 7, 2024, with hearing from witnesses on Wednesday, in Port Harcourt.
A witness, Smile Azunda, told the commission during the special hearing that the damage at his Ikwerre local government councils was estimated at N3.219 billion.
Earlier, in her opening address, chairman of the panel, Justice Ibiwengi Minakiri, emphasised that the panel’s purpose was fact-finding and recommendation, not victimisation. She appealed for cooperation from all parties involved.
In his defence of the memoranda he submitted on the October 28 on behalf of the council to the commission, Azunda urged the commission to admit attached photographs and video clips that captured moments of the ill-fated incident of the burnt section of the council secretariat as evidence.
Azunda, who is the Ikwerre Council Secretary, tendered an attached document in his memoranda, report of an investigation carried out by one John Chukwumadi on October 18, in the arson.
He also orally informed the commission that he made official complaint to the police, DSS and the fire service about the incident, which was subsequently adopted as F1, F2 and F3.
Chuks Okocha, Emmanuel Addeh, Alex Enumah and Blessing Ibunge
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