Governor Siminalayi Fubara has stated that he withdrew his appeal at the Supreme Court regarding the 2024 budget because the matter had become irrelevant.
He explained that since the budget had already been implemented and expired on December 31, 2024, there was no need to continue with the case.
Fubara’s Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, clarified that the appeal was related to an earlier court ruling requiring the governor to re-present the budget before the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly.
He emphasized that the decision to withdraw the appeal was made because revisiting a budget that had already been spent would serve no purpose.
The Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Warisenibo Joseph Johnson, also addressed the issue, stating that the Supreme Court should not be burdened with a case that holds no practical significance.
He assured that the withdrawal of the appeal does not affect the status of the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led House of Assembly, which he insisted remains legitimate.
Amid ongoing political tension in Rivers State, the government clarified that this decision does not impact the ongoing legal battle concerning the legitimacy of lawmakers who defected from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023.
Fubara’s administration has maintained that the defection of 27 lawmakers rendered their seats vacant, and the case remains before the Supreme Court.
The withdrawal of the appeal is seen as a strategic move to focus on more pressing governance matters while awaiting the court’s ruling on the broader Assembly leadership dispute.
