Victor EzejaThe Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday, nullified the N800 billion budget passed by five members of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by the Edison Ehie faction.
The appellate court also affirmed that Martin Amaewhule is the authentic Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Federal High Court in a judgment delivered on 22nd January invalidated the Rivers State 2024 budget on the grounds that it was not presented before members of the State Assembly as required by law.
Justice Omotosho held that the decision to present the 2024 Rivers State budget to only four out of 31 members of the Assembly is a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The High Court therefore ordered that Governor Fubara should represent the budget to the legally constituted House of Assembly under Martin Amaewhule.
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision, dismissed an appeal filed by the Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, for lack of merit.
The court ruled that Governor Fubara could not file an appeal for a case he had not challenged during the trial since he withdrew his counter-affidavit at the lower court.
The court stated in its unanimous ruling held that Governor Fubara should uphold the rule of law rather than the rule of force.
The court went further to argue that the circumstances at the Rivers State House of Assembly are an excessive joke and an example of the governor’s executive despotism.
Background
Fubara had presented the budget titled: ‘Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation and Continuity’ of N800 billion to four out of the over 31 lawmakers of the state house of assembly in December 2023.
The four lawmakers that Fubara presented the budget to are his loyalists. It happened at a time 27 lawmakers defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The action of the lawmakers purportedly loyal to former governor and current FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, was deemed unconstitutional and the new speaker, Edison Ehie that was appointed, declared their seats vacant.
READ ALSO: Rivers Crisis: Fubara Sets Up Judicial Inquiry Into Burning Of 3 LG Secretariats
Subsequently, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital, granted an interim injunction restraining the pro-Wike lawmakers from parading themselves as legislators in the state.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on 4th July affirmed Amaewhule and 24 other lawmakers as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
After their reinstatement by the court, the Amaewhule-led faction asked Fubara to re-present the 2024 budget to the Assembly.
The governor refused and went and appealed the matter.
Fubara and Wike have been embroiled in a rift over control of the political structure in Rivers State.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
