The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, denied to grant a motion to restrict the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, from spending from the state’s consolidated revenue pool.
Judge James Nwite instructed the plaintiffs to serve Fubara and the other defendants in the claim with a notification letter instead of granting the motion ex parte with the file number FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24.
The Rivers State House of Assembly faction loyal to former governor Nyesom Wike filed the lawsuit.
After Fubara refused to present a new budget for 2024, the divided Assembly, led by Martin Amaewhule, decided in plenary on July 15 to prohibit him from using funds from the Rivers State consolidated account.
At their previous meeting, the 25 legislators who supported Wike had given Fubara a seven-day deadline to produce the budget and threatened to take legal action against him if he didn’t.
But Fubara declared that he would not reintroduce the N800 billion budget that the divided Assembly that supports him had approved in January.
He called the lawmakers who supported Mike “illegitimate,” claiming that they had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress and consequently lost their legislative seats.
The pro-Fubara factional Assembly, headed by Victor Oko-Jumbo, also refuted the pro-Wike legislators’ demand that state funds not be used for Fubara.
Insisting that his Assembly side was the legitimate Assembly, Oko-Jumbo demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission hold by-elections to replace the MPs who supported Wike.
Justice Nwite declared in his decision on Monday that he would not halt Fubara from using public funds.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank PLC, the Accountant General of the Federation, Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, the Accountant-General of Rivers, the Rivers Independent Electoral Commission, Justice S.C. Amadi, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Adolphus Enebeli, the Chairperson of RSIEC, and the Government of Rivers State are the defendants in this lawsuit.
The judge allowed the pro-Wike MPs’ request for substituted serving of court papers on the accused, which was made possible by their attorney, Joseph Daudu (SAN).
In his decision, Justice Nwite mandated that the Motion on Notice be served by alternative methods to the defendants ranked fifth through tenth.
He said, “Leave is hereby granted to the plaintiffs/applicants, to serve the 5th to 10th defendants/respondents with the plaintiffs/applicants’ Motion on Notice, and any other process(es) filed or issued in this suit by substituted means to wit: by publishing same in the Nation newspapers.”
The matter was then postponed by the judge until August 7 in order to hear the Motion on Notice.
On Monday, the lawmakers who supported Wike called for the arrest of the guardians Fubara had chosen to oversee the state’s eighteen local government districts. At their Monday meeting, the MPs who supported Wike passed the resolution.
They said that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court preserving LG autonomy was broken by using caretakers to manage LG. Martins Wachukwu, the Speaker’s media assistant, released a statement on Monday that included the lawmakers’ resolution.
The resolution was passed after a motion made and discussed by members, which was seconded by Major Jack, the House Leader. They characterized the guardians of LG as forgeries and unidentified legal bodies.
The statement reads, “The Rivers State House of Assembly at its 7th Legislative Sitting of the Second Session of the 10th Assembly, Monday, deliberated on a statement by the House Leader, Hon. Major Jack, wherein he drew the attention of the House to the illegal activities of some persons in the state, masquerading as Chairmen and members of Caretaker Committees.
“These individuals, the Leader said, go about imposing and collecting fees, levies and rates from unsuspecting members of the public, in breach of the recent Supreme Court judgement, and the provisions of the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment)Law, 2023 that prohibit Caretaker Committees in whatever guise or nomenclature.”
“These individuals not known to the law go to the banks and withdraw money meant for the Local Government Councils” for wanton wasting in the name of non-existent Caretaker committees, according to Speaker Amaewhule, who expressed concern over this in his speech.
In order to prevent a collapse of law and order in the state, Amaewhule pleaded with the police and other security services to act quickly and apprehend the imposters.
The “crass disregard for the laws of the state and the judgment of the Supreme Court of the land by some impostors,” he declared, would not be tolerated by the House.
