Federal lawmakers from opposition political parties have thrown their weight behind the River State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, insisting that he will continue to drive the wheel of governance in the state until the case on legality of decampment of 27 lawmakers which is presently at Appeal Court is decided.
Spokesman of the federal lawmakers who operate under the umbrella of Nigeria Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Rep. Ikenga Ugochinyere, said the opposition also disagreed with today`s judgment by the Supreme Court ordering seizure of Rivers allocation, reports Daily Independent.
In a statement, Rep Ugochinyere said the judgment is capable of inflicting injury on the people.
This is as it maintained that while nullifying the local council elections is strange, it however will not stop the continuance of governance at the local council areas, as it will also not return the former chairmen whose tenure expired last year to office.
According to Ugochinyere (PDP, Imo) the Apex Court ruling which amongst others ordered the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly and other elected members of the House to forthwith resume sitting is “unfortunate.”
The lawmaker wondered why the Apex Court delivered such a judgment which he said is tantamount to depriving the people of Rivers their political and economic rights – to elect their leaders at the third tier of government and get what is accrued to them from the federation account which they made significant contributions.
Still on the CBN, he said the decision of the Supreme Court on these two appeals does not augur well for democracy and federalism, saying the appeal court acted in good faith for the interest of Rivers people who an individual was trying to hold captive.
“It is indeed, surprising that the Supreme Court faulted the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal for vacating the initial order that stopped the release of funds to Rivers State from the consolidated revenue on the pretext that Governor Fubara did not re-present the 2024 Appropriation Bill of the state before the Hon. Martins Amaewhule-led sacked faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“Notwithstanding, Governor Fubara will continue to drive the wheel of governance in Rivers until the case on legality of decampment is decided and the Supreme Court
“For emphasis, the case challenging the illegality of the… decampment is being heard at Appeal Court and we are surprised the Supreme Court would confer legitimacy on lawmakers whose decampment is still a subject of litigation.
“The power drunk … sacked 27 lawmakers stand removed having desecrated the Constitution and decamped from peaceful PDP to rancorous APC. They should not celebrate, it’s not yet uhuru!”
Earlier in the day the Supreme Court ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to stop financial allocations to Rivers State government with immediate effect until the state government implements a lawful Appropriation law.
In a judgment today delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, the Supreme Court also ordered the 27- members of Rivers House of Assembly to resume their functions immediately.
The unanimous judgment of the 5-man panel led by Justice Musa Uwani Aba-Aji stopped all actions by Governor Fubara, describing them as unlawful.
It also criticised the state government for demolishing the House of Assembly to prevent the 27 Assembly members from participating in legislative activities.
Justice Agim ordered that the Clerk and Deputy Clerk who were redeployed out of the State House of Assembly be allowed to resume work alongside their colleagues.
The court considered it an aberration for the governor to operate with only 4 out of 32 lawmakers for fear of impeachment.
Recall, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, both in Abuja which declared the sack of the affected lawmakers as “unlawful and illegal.”
This is as the court asked the state government to compensate the aggrieved legislators with the sum of N10million, as fine accruable from the suit against the governor.
Also recall that the Federal High Court had held that the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January 2024, by the Governor must stop.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik who delivered the Federal High Court judgment had issued an order that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a 4-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the Constitutional provision.
According to the Judge, the implementation of the budget violated the 1999 Constitution which the Governor swore to protect.
The judge had therefore restrained 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.
