Rivers to receive federal allocation despite ongoing legal battle

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has announced that Rivers State will continue to receive its federal allocations, despite an ongoing legal battle.

This decision comes after the state government filed an appeal against a recent court ruling that restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from disbursing financial allocations to the state government.

According to Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations at the OAGF during an interview with newsmen, the decision to continue allocating funds to Rivers State is based on the appeal court’s override of the previous court order.

“We are going to obey court orders,” Mokwa stated. “Yesterday, after a report that the state would not be paid, the Rivers State government sent a notification of appeal to that effect. So, logically, we are going to obey court orders. The notification depicts that there is a stay of execution, which means we will maintain status quo. It means the state will be given allocation.”

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The legal battle began in July when the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by factional Speaker Martins Amaewhule, instituted a suit against the CBN and nine others. The suit sought to restrain the CBN, commercial banks, and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) from granting any financial instructions from Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

On October 30, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in favor of the Amaewhule-led assembly, restraining the CBN from disbursing financial allocations to the state government. The court held that the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill, presented by Fubara to a five-member assembly, was not properly constituted.

However, Fubara’s administration has since appealed the ruling, and the court of appeal has reserved its judgment to a later date. Despite the ongoing legal battle, the OAGF has confirmed that Rivers State will continue to receive its federal allocations.

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