Court nullifies passage of 2024 Rivers Budget

THE Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the passage of the 2024 Rivers State appropriation bill by the four-member Rivers House of Assembly led by Edison Ehie.

Recall that the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, in December 2023, presented an N800 billion Appropriation Bill for the 2024 fiscal year to the four-member assembly.

Edison Ehie is a former House Leader who was removed from office for refusing to support an attempt to impeach Governor Fubara by some of his colleagues. He later resigned from the assembly.

The Rivers assembly comprises 31 members.

The remaining 27 members had earlier defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

Governor Fubara presented the budget a day after Mr. Ehie’s faction obtained a court order permitting them to carry out legislative business without interference.

The assembly has been enmeshed in a crisis since late October 2023 when some lawmakers attempted to impeach the governor, a development that led to the bombing of a section of the complex.

The assembly crisis, reportedly caused by the political struggle between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, had split the lawmakers into two factions.

The faction, which had 27 members, is led by Martin Amaewhule as Speaker and is backed by Mr. Wike.

However, following the intervention of President Tinubu, Amaewhule was eventually recognised by the Rivers State Government.

The court has also upheld the lawsuit brought by the Assembly and Speaker Martin Amaewhule against Fubara. The suit sought an injunction preventing the governor from obstructing the Assembly under Amaewhule’s leadership as the speaker, among other claims.