A high court in Port Harcourt has ruled that Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, can continue conducting official business with the three lawmakers at the state house of assembly who have not vacated their seats.
The ruling, delivered on December 20, 2024, by Justice Sika Aprioku, dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Registered Trustees of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners.
The suit had sought to compel Governor Fubara to re-present the 2024 budget to the faction of the state assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.
The claimants argued that the failure to re-submit the budget to the Amaewhule-led faction was impeding the proper functioning of the state government.
However, during the court proceedings, the defense team, led by Lawrence Oko-Jaja, referenced a past instance when only six members of the Rivers state house of assembly conducted official business under former Governor Nyesom Wike between 2015 and 2017.
Oko-Jaja highlighted that, despite the smaller number, the assembly successfully passed the 2017 appropriation bill and confirmed appointments during that period.
The judge agreed with the defense’s arguments, stating that Governor Fubara was constitutionally entitled to work with the current members of the assembly, who have not vacated their seats following the defection of 27 lawmakers.
The court ruled that the 2024 budget should not be re-presented to the defected lawmakers, who had automatically vacated their seats, and affirmed that Fubara could proceed with important duties such as appointing judges, screening commissioners, and making board appointments with the remaining members.
“The claimant’s request for a declaratory and injunctive relief to represent the 2024 budget to the former 27 lawmakers lacks merit and is dismissed,” the court ruled, awarding N500,000 in costs to the defendants.
Meanwhile, Governor Fubara signed the N1.18 trillion appropriation bill into law at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
In December 2023, he had presented the budget to a five-member faction led by Edison Ehie.
Since then, the Rivers State House of Assembly has been divided due to the ongoing feud between Fubara and Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In October 2023, the majority pro-Wike faction led by Martins Amaewhule took over the leadership of the assembly.
Fubara’s refusal to re-present the budget has led to further legal battles, including a previous judgment from a federal high court in Abuja, which ordered Fubara to present the budget to a legally constituted assembly.
In a separate case, the Amaewhule-led faction sought an injunction preventing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial institutions from complying with Fubara’s financial instructions.
In October, a federal high court in Abuja ruled in favor of the injunction, stating that no funds should be released to the state until the budget was presented to a validly constituted assembly.
However, in December 2024, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned this decision, allowing the state government to access its financial allocations.
