The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation has pledged to comply with court rulings concerning the distribution of federal allocations to Rivers State amid ongoing legal disputes over the state’s financial entitlements.
According to The Punch, Bawa Mokwa, the Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF, stated that the government would comply with the court order.
“Since there is a notice of appeal, the notice of appeal has overridden the earlier court judgment. So far, it is a court order that we will obey; if there is a notice of appeal, Rivers will be paid.”
Recall that the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on October 30 barred the Federal Government from releasing further monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The court, in the judgement that was delivered by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, specifically restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from allowing the state to draw funds from the consolidated revenue account.
The judgement followed a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24, which was brought before the court by the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Meanwhile, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on Friday, urged the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja to set aside the judgement that barred the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from releasing monthly allocations to Rivers State.
The governor, through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, prayed a three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Hamma Barka, to vacate the high court order, which he maintained was issued in bad faith.
He urged the appellate court to allow his appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024 and nullify adverse orders that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court made against the state in the judgement she delivered on October 30.
Governor Fubara’s plea came on a day the Justice Barka-led panel consolidated five other appeals that arose from the said judgement of the high court.
The appeals were marked as: CA/ABJ/CV/1277/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1196/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1287/24, CA/ABJ/CV/1293/24, and CA/ABJ/CV/1360/2024.
Aside from Governor Fubara, other appellants in the matter included the Rivers State Government, the Accountant-General of Rivers State, and Zenith Bank Plc.
