The Federal Government has decided to halt monthly funds from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to Rivers State.
This action follows a recent court ruling related to the ongoing political crisis in the state.
Bawa Mokwa, spokesperson for the Accountant General of the Federation, confirmed the decision.
Although Mokwa confirmed that no state of the federation had been paid the FAAC revenue for the month of October, the government would respect the court order as it pertains to Rivers State.
“What I got is that the October 2024 FAAC has not been distributed yet. However, the Federal Government will obey the court order on the matter of Rivers State allocation,” Mokwa said.
The move comes after a court order, which directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Government to cease payments to Rivers State until Governor Siminalayi Fubara presents the state’s budget to the House of Assembly in line with legal requirements.
This ruling also restricts access to funds from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account for Governor Fubara, as well as blocking financial institutions like Zenith Bank and Access Bank from processing payments on his behalf.
Meanwhile Governor has approached the Court of Appeal, asking for the reversal of the Federal High Court’s
Fubara’s legal team, led by Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, filed an appeal challenging the injunction issued by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik at the Federal High Court on October 30.
The governor claimed that the decision was made in bad faith and should be annulled.
The appeal, registered as CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024, was heard alongside several other related cases.
The legal battle stemmed from a lawsuit filed by a faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Hon. Martins Amaewhule, who sought to halt the disbursement of federal funds to the state.
The faction, which had shifted allegiance from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), argued that the state government’s failure to present the 2024 budget justifies freezing the federal allocations.
In contrast, Fubara maintained that the Amaewhule faction lost its legitimacy after their party defection, and he continues to seek the release of the state’s funds.
The case was heard by a three-member panel, with the ruling to be delivered at a later date.
