The Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, Joseph Johnson, has said it would have been “dangerous” to cut off funding for Rivers from the federation account because social services in the state would have shut down.
“So whoever took that matter to court merely provided a recipe for anarchy,” he said.
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Mr Johnson said this on Friday while speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on the Court of Appeal judgement reversing an earlier judgement of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, which cut off funding for Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration over the intractable political crisis in the oil-rich state.
“It is dangerous because it would have shut down schools, teachers wouldn’t teach, students wouldn’t go to school, and hospitals wouldn’t function.
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“And come to think of it, Rivers State is not only occupied by civil servants; the benefits of a state impact the life of all the state’s indigenes up to the residents. Rivers State is like a mini-Nigeria where you have people across all strata,” Mr Johnson said of the Federal High Court judge Joyce Abdulmalik’s 30 October judgement.
Mr Johnson said the money accruable to Rivers, being a statutory allocation, cannot be stopped. “There is nothing that should stop it. It’s like saying that blood shouldn’t flow in the vein of a living being,” he added.
The Rivers legislature has been split into two factions because of the battle between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, for control of the state’s political structure.
Order for the stopping of Rivers’ allocation
Justice Abdulmalik ruled against Mr Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 state budget to a four-member faction of the state’s House of Assembly loyal to him. The court also barred the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant-General of the Federation from releasing funds from the federation account to the state.
Twenty-seven Rivers lawmakers loyal to Mr Wike filed the case.
Justice Abdulmalik held that Governor Fubara’s receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January 2024 was a constitutional somersault and aberration that must not be allowed to continue.
The judge held that Mr Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before the four-member assembly was an affront to the Nigerian constitution.
Governor Fubara and the lawmakers loyal to him have repeatedly insisted that the pro-Wike lawmakers forfeited their seats in the assembly, having defected from the PDP to the APC.
Appeal Court judgement
On Friday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, presided over by Hamman Barka, held that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit seeking to cut off funding for the Rivers State Government.
The court added that the mere listing of federal agencies does not confer unrestricted jurisdiction on the Federal High Court and that the subject, which is the appropriation issue of a state, should not have been entertained.
The Appeal Court allowed the Rivers State Government’s appeal and set aside all the orders made by the Federal High Court, stating that it was unconstitutional for her to make orders restricting Rivers State government from receiving funds due to the state from its consolidated revenue fund.
‘Fubara has been very resolute’
The Rivers’ information commissioner, Mr Johnson, said the judiciary, with the Appeal Court judgement, has “asserted the sacred principle of our constitutional democracy”.
He said the Rivers people have been jubilant because of the judgement. “A few people wanted to take away the commonwealth of the people,” he said
Mr Johnson described the defection of the pro-Wike lawmakers as a “wrongest decision” and said that the Appeal Court judgement has vindicated Governor Fubara.
“Our governor has been very resolute. He said don’t do anything, all my projects would run. And we have paid salary. We even paid minimum wage in November. That judgement came on 30 October.
“We paid teachers and everybody; we continued with our projects, we have been running, we have a 14-day commissioning ceremony, which will span up to 21 December. Every day, we commission projects we initiate and complete to the benefit of the people of Rivers State. The reason being that we have a governor who understands finances, of course he is an expert, a chartered accountant.”
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