The Supreme Court has restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation, and other agencies from releasing funds to the Rivers State government until it complies with court directives.

In a one-hour, thirty-six-minute judgment delivered by Justice Emmanuel Akomaye, a five-man panel of the court unanimously dismissed Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s cross-appeal challenging the legitimacy of the Rivers State House of Assembly under Speaker Martin Amaewhule.

The court ruled that Amaewhule must immediately resume sitting with the duly elected lawmakers, rejecting Fubara’s attempt to govern with a four-member House of Assembly. It held that the governor’s actions deprived 28 constituencies of proper representation and violated an earlier court order requiring him to present the 2024 budget to a legally constituted Assembly under Amaewhule’s leadership.

Furthermore, the court described Fubara’s handling of the alleged defection of 28 lawmakers as an act of “brigandage and dictatorship,” aimed at obstructing the Assembly from carrying out its constitutional duties.

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