Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, has asked the court of appeal to set aside the order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from further disbursing financial allocations to the state government.
Yusuf Ali, counsel to Fubara, told the appellant court on Friday that the judgment of the lower court was issued in bad faith.
Background
On October 30, a federal high court in Abuja restrained the CBN from disbursing financial allocations to the Rivers state government.
The court held that monies from the federation account should not be released to the state pending the passage of a lawful appropriation act by a validly constituted house of assembly.
Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, delivered the judgment in a suit filed by the Rivers state house of assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.
Abdulmalik held that Fubara was wrong to have presented the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to a five-member assembly “that was not properly constituted”.
In December 2023, Fubara presented an N800 billion budget estimate to the Edison Ehie faction of the house of assembly.
The presentation of the budget titled ‘Budget of renewed hope, consolidation, and continuity’ took place at the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Dissatisfied with the ruling of the lower court, Fubara and the Rivers state government approached the appeal court.
Appeal Court Reserves Judgment
On Thursday, the three-member panel led by Hamma Barka consolidated the five other appeals that arose from the judgment of the high court.
At the court proceedings on Friday, the appellants urged the court to dismiss the verdict of the lower court.
J.B. Dauda, lead counsel to the Amaewhule-led faction, asked the court to dismiss the appeals and affirm the judgment of the lower court.
After all the parties adopted their briefs of argument, the panel reserved its judgment to a date that would be communicated to the parties.
