Court Reserves Judgement in Suit Seeking Stoppage of Federal Allocations to Rivers

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, reserved her judgement in a suit seeking to stop the release of federal monthly allocations to Rivers State.
Justice Abdulmalik, who said that the date for her judgement would be communicated to parties, took the decision after all parties had argued for and against the originating summons filed by a factional Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule.

The plaintiffs predicated their case on the grounds that the Rivers State Executive was yet to comply with the order of a Federal High Court directing it to represent the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court had in a judgement delivered early in the year faulted Governor Siminalayi Fubara, for presenting the state appropriation before the four-member Assembly led by Rt Hon. Edison Ehie.
The state assembly was factionalised last year after 27 of them led by Amaewhule allegedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under whose platform they came into office.
Based on their alleged defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the state government claimed that Amaewhule and his co-defectors were no longer members of the state legislators and as such were not entitled to receive the 2024 appropriation which was signed by the governor after being passed by the Ehie faction.

Miffed by this decision as well as the refusal to comply with the judgement of Justice Omotosho, which was recently affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the Amaewhule-led faction said to be loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, approached the court to stop further release of the federal allocations to the state until the judgement of the court was complied with.
In defending the suit, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is the first defendant, urged the court to dismiss it for being frivolous.
Meanwhile, Justice Abdulmalik in a ruling refused to recuse herself from hearing the suit seeking, denying allegations of bias.
It would be recalled that the Accountant General of Rivers State filed a motion on notice where he accused Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of utter bias against it and and all other defendants in the suit.

Represented by Tuturu Edem, SAN, the Accountant General faulted the ways and manners the judge had been conducting the proceedings describing it as strange and unbelievable.

The position of the Accountant General was adopted by the CBN and all other defendants.

However, in her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik said that she would not recuse herself adding that she was not biased as alleged.

The judge also refused to decline jurisdiction and a request to allow the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt take over the proceedings.

Justice Abdulmalik held that the territorial jurisdiction of the federal high court was one across the country.

The judge also held that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court has the discretion to assign any case to a judge of his choice.

She thereafter ordered that  hearing in the substantive matter and the preliminary objections should continue.

After all parties had made their submissions for and against the main suit, Justice Abdulmalik announced that judgement has been reserved to a date that would be communicated to parties.