…Says he’ll pay salaries this week
…Atiku warns judiciary against setting Rivers on fire
Rivers State Governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, has said that his government was not shaken at all despite Wednesday’s order by a Federal High Court in Abuja halting the Central Bank of Nigeria from further releasing the monthly allocation of Rivers State.
Fubara, who spoke at a special thanksgiving in Port Harcourt to mark the one year of the failed attempt to impeach him from office by an embattled faction of Rivers State House of Assembly, said, “They said we would not last a week. But here we are, over a year strong.”
He said the opposition had done everything to frustrate and crash his government but they failed.
He said, “They claimed those Buccaneers would never leave as Local Government Chairmen; today, we have newly sworn-in chairmen seated here.
“They told their Commissioners to resign, but now we have over 20 Commissioners.
“At an event at Rivers State University, they said they’d distract us, thinking we’d achieve nothing—yet here we are, executing projects.
“Not only are we prudent, but yesterday you saw the BudgIT performance ranking of our fiscal performance.
“So, who’s the winner now?
“Tomorrow, I’ll still pay our contractors, and civil servants will receive their salaries.
“LGA chairmen have attended JAAC, and they’ll pay salaries this week.
“And I ask again, who’s the loser?
“Now, do you see why we should be happy? Do you see why we chose today to celebrate the goodness of Almighty God?
“We can’t thank God enough.
“I promised you we would continue to defend the interest of Rivers State, and we’ll keep doing so—with your support.”
Meanwhile, a former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has urged the judiciary to careful so as not o create an uncontrollable crisis in Rivers State.
In a statement titled, Don’t Set Rivers on Fire, issued by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the former Vice President cautioned the judiciary against setting Rivers State on fire in the wake of the Wednesday judgment wherein a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt all payments to the state.
He said it was appalling that some elements loyal to the Federal Government were pulling the strings from behind and wondered why Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the order when it was public knowledge that Rivers State had already challenged the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the legality of Rivers State’s 2024 budget.
He said, “Last week the Court of Appeal declared that the Rivers State budget was illegal because it was passed by an inchoate assembly. The court ordered Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the budget afresh.
“The Rivers State Government has already filed a notice of appeal so that the Supreme Court can hear the matter. However, some elements in the Bola Tinubu administration have procured a judgment intended to undermine the Supreme Court.
“Even before the judgment was delivered, legal luminary, Femi Falana (SAN) had alerted the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho of possible compromise after house gifts had been presented to judges in Abuja. Sadly, Falana’s warning was ignored.”
Atiku hailed the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, for summoning judges sitting on the Rivers State cases.
He, however, called on her to ensure that those found wanting are disciplined in order to restore the fading glory of God the judiciary.
“Nigeria has descended into the theatre of the absurd since the Tinubu administration took office. Courts are playing a more ignoble role in fostering political crises within political parties and even in states. From the emirship tussle in Kano State to the Rivers imbroglio where courts are going as far as preventing elections from holding, taking Nigeria back to the dark days of June 12, 1993 where polls were annulled.
“Sadly, under the leadership of those who claim to have fought for Nigeria’s democracy, the country is descending into chaos with conflicting orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction flying all over the place while judges are being induced in the name of empowerment and provision of houses.
“The result is that Nigerians are gradually losing confidence in an institution which prides itself as the last hope of the common man. Foreign investors will avoid any place where judgments can be bought by the highest bidder.
“Nigeria should not descend to the Hobessian state of nature where life is short, nasty and brutish, where citizens opt for self-help. Rivers State accounts for almost 25 percent of Nigeria’s oil assets. For a country facing an economic crisis worsened by vandalism and banditry, Tinubu should put his 2027 ambition aside and put Nigeria’s interest first.
“We call on the Nigerian judiciary to restore its image before it gets too late.”
Reacting to the Abuja court order, former Chairman of Nigerian Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has criticized the Federal High Court for withholding Rivers State Allocations, calling it, ‘Tyranny Of The Outlaw.’
In a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Odinkalu pointed out that 20 years ago, during the tenure of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor of Lagos State, the Supreme Court of Nigeria had declined a similar application.
