The N800 billion budget that the Edison Ehie-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly passed and Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara signed into law has been declared void by Justice James of the Federal High Court Abuja.
The court also upheld the lawsuit that Fubara was sued in by the Assembly and Speaker Martin Amaewhule. The lawsuit sought, among other things, an injunction prohibiting the governor from impeding the Assembly while he was speaker.
Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget plan to five members of the State Assembly, chaired by Edison Ehie, on December 13, 2023, amid the intense political unrest roiling the oil-rich state and the Assembly Complex’s demolition.
The presentation took place at the Government House in Port Harcourt after the state government demolished the Assembly Complex and a judge barred Martins Amaewhule, the opponent of Ehie, from using it.
The governor signed the bill into law, with Ehie and the other parliamentarians who supported Fubara claiming it was intended to address socioeconomic inequalities in the state and promote inclusive growth for economic development.
After both sides met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, Ehie later tendered his resignation from the House and Amaewhule was reinstated as Speaker of the Assembly.
The issue was then brought to court after Amaewhule and twenty-five other MPs who supported former governor Nyesom Wike insisted that Fubara submit the 2024 budget estimates to the Assembly once more.
Amaewhule’s attorney, Ken Njemanze, charged on Monday that the governor was violating the concept of the separation of powers by meddling in the operations and duties of the state legislature.
Hence, he requested a “prohibition order prohibiting the 1st through 10th defendants (NASS) from considering any proposal from the 11th defendant (Fubara) to assume the execution of the Rivers Assembly’s duties, such as enacting laws for the peaceful coexistence and orderly administration of Rivers concerning subjects falling under its constitutional and legislative purview.”
“An order of mandatory injunction compelling the Inspector General of Police to provide and continue to provide adequate security and protection for the First Plaintiff, as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, under the direction of the Second Plaintiff, in order to transact the First Plaintiff’s business, whether by himself or by officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force under his command.
“An order restraining Fubara including the 12th, 13th and 14th defendants from withholding any amount standing to the credit of Rivers Assembly in the state’s Consolidated Revenue Fund, including salaries and emoluments due and payable to the speaker, deputy speaker and other members of the house as well as to the clerk, deputy clerk and other members of staff of the assembly,” the plaintiff’s prayed among other reliefs.
Alternatively, the plaintiff requested an order of injunction prohibiting the respondents from withholding from the Assembly the necessary cash to meet its financial commitments, as well as to manage its business, including paying wages, allowances, and emoluments, regardless of how those obligations are defined.