Appeal court reserves judgment on Rivers allocation case

The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Friday, reserved judgment in a suit filed by Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara to overturn the ruling that prevented the Central Bank of Nigeria from releasing monthly allocations to Rivers State.

Recall that on October 30, Justice Joyce AbdulMalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Governor Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly constituted a violation of the constitutional provisions.

She described the receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January by Fubara as a clear constitutional breach that must not be tolerated.

She subsequently issued an injunction restraining the CBN, Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank, and Access Bank from allowing Fubara to access funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.

At today’s proceedings, the three-judge special panel reserved judgment in the case following the adoption of the parties’ submissions. Fubara, in his appeal, urged the Justice Hamma Barka-led panel to overturn the lower court’s judgment, arguing for the vacating of the order barring state allocations.

The panel also consolidated five other appeals arising from the original high court decision, identified 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.

Justice Barka announced that judgment would be reserved and communicated at a later date to the parties involved.