Fed High Court tells CBN: Stop releasing allocation to Rivers govt

Monthly financial allocations to Rivers state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been stopped by a Federal High Court in Abuja.

The receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January this year by Governor Siminalayi Fubara was, as the court ruled, “a constitutional aberration that must not be allowed to continue.”

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who issued the order on Wednesday, held that the “presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a 4-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the Assembly.”

Specifically, the judge said that Fubara action in implementing unlawful budget smacked gross violations of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.

The judge therefore “restrained CBN, Accountant General of the Federation, Zenith Bank and Access Bank, from further allowing Fubara to access money from the Consolidated Revenue of the Federation Account.”