A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to henceforth discontinue the release of monthly allocations from the Federation Account to Rivers State government.
The court held that the disbursements of monthly allocations to the state government since January this year were unconstitutional following the failure of the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to comply with the constitutional requirements for such disbursements.
In her ruling on the suit before the court challenging the legality of releases of the monthly allocations to the state government, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, held that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a 4-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the Constitution.
Specifically, the judge maintained that the governor’s action in implementing an unlawful budget smacked of a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.
Consequently, the judge restrained the CBN, Accountant-General of the Federation, Zenith Bank and Access Bank from further allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.
