Rivers Judgment: Fubara Must Refund Illegally Spent Funds, Says Coalition

As reactions continue to trail the judgment of a Federal High Court, Abuja, ordering the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations to Rivers State, the National Democratic and Change Coalition (NDCC) has called on Governor Siminalayi Fubara to refund all monies spent without appropriation to the state coffers.

The coalition, while expressing satisfaction with the ruling, said the people of Rivers State have been vindicated and the long awaited justice has been served on the governor.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations to Rivers State.

Justice Abdulmalik predicated her action on the grounds that the state government was in violation of the constitution as regards the state expenditure.

According to the judge, the current budget being operated by the state was not passed by a lawful arm of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

According to Justice Abdul Malik, “There is nothing to prove that the governor complied with the law in submitting the 2024 appropriation before a proper parliament.”

Reacting via a press release Wednesday by John Uloko, president of the coalition, the group hailed Justice Abdulmalik for holding that since January 2024, Rivers State had received and spent allocations based on an “illegitimate” budget, thereby describing it as a “constitutional aberration”.

The statement read: “The NDCC, made up of a group of lawyers, has always been of the view that what is going on in Rivers State is a theatre of the absurd that persistently violates the constitution, stands logic on its head and even defies mathematical reasoning to the extent that four members were allowed to constitute themselves into a House of Assembly that is meant to have 32 members.

“We, therefore, commend Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja for holding that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the constitutional provision.

“This ruling is a victory for democracy and will teach rogue governors the bitter lesson that the Constitution of the Federal Republic must be respected and the sanctity of our democratic institutions upheld irrespective of their political desperation. Operating an illegal state Assembly of four men by any governor is something everyone should condemn in totality and welcome the court’s judgment.

“In the wake of this judgment, NDCC urges Governor Fubara to immediately reverse all his decisions and actions based on the illegitimate Assembly since they all suffer the same defect as the budget the court threw out. 

“The governor must also strongly consider refunding all the Rivers States’ funds illegally expended from January to date.

“We further advise Governor Fubara to urgently do the needful by resubmitting the state’s budget to the legitimate Rivers State House of Assembly for due process to be followed so that governance is not truncated and the people plunged into more misery than they have already endured from the governor being absorbed in his political sabre-rattling.

“Finally, Governor Fubara must allow Rivers State to breathe by stopping all the unnecessary squabbling that has served no useful purpose.”