Federal Government Denies Stopping Funds to Rivers State Amid Legal Dispute

The Federal Government has rejected claims that it has stopped disbursing funds to Rivers State.

On Friday, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) announced that it had withheld the October revenue payment to Rivers State following a Federal High Court ruling. The court had issued an order halting the allocation, and Bawa Mokwa, spokesperson for the OAGF, confirmed that the government would comply with the ruling. However, he added that disbursement would resume only if a contrary order is issued.

Mokwa clarified that while the October 2024 Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) distribution has not yet been completed, the government is adhering to the court order for Rivers State’s allocation. He emphasized that due diligence would be followed unless a new ruling directs otherwise, stating, “the process of disbursement of the October 2024 monthly allocation is ongoing.”

This decision comes amid a prolonged political dispute between Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

Mokwa further explained that Rivers State would receive its allocation due to a subsisting appeal and stay of execution order. On Friday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reserved judgment in five appeals related to the Federal High Court’s rulings on the Rivers State political crisis. One of the appeals challenges the court’s decision to prevent the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from releasing allocations to Rivers State.

Justice Hamma Barka of the Court of Appeal stated that the court would announce a judgment date after all filings in the appeals had been presented. These appeals challenge Federal High Court rulings delivered in October 2024, including a decision to halt the disbursement of funds to Rivers State due to a controversial 2024 budget presented by Governor Fubara.

In her ruling, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court had found that the governor’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a four-member House of Assembly violated constitutional provisions, rendering the budget unlawful. As a result, she issued an injunction preventing the CBN, the Accountant General of the Federation, and several banks from granting the governor access to state funds.

The ruling was based on a lawsuit filed by the Rivers State House of Assembly and its Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule, which challenged the constitutionality of the governor’s budget presentation and the subsequent actions of the state’s financial institutions.