Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed all objections raised by the Rivers government against proceeding with the hearing of a suit seeking to halt all expenditures by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The listed defendants in the suit are the CBN, Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, and the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) as the 1st to 4th defendants.
Also joined are Fubara; the Accountant-General (A-G) of Rivers; the Rivers Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC); the Chief Judge (CJ) of Rivers, Hon. Justice S.C. Amadi; the Chairman of RSIEC, Hon. Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd.); and the Government of Rivers State as the 5th to 10th defendants, respectively.
In her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed the applications by the state government and other defendants to stay proceedings pending the hearing and determination of the appeal already filed before the Court of Appeal.
The judge held that the request was frivolous, vexatious, unwarranted, and mischievous.
The Rivers House of Assembly and Mr. Martin Amaewhule, as the 1st and 2nd plaintiffs, had sued the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and nine others in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/984/24.
The plaintiffs, through their lead counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, filed the suit dated July 14 but submitted it on July 15.
The assembly and Mr. Amaewhule, a faction lawyer allied with Mr. Nyesom Wike, the state’s former governor and current FCT Minister, sought an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the CBN, commercial banks, and the AGF from honouring any financial instructions issued by Fubara regarding the state’s funds.
However, the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Mr. Oko Jumbo, filed a notice of change of counsel on August 6.
The Oko Jumbo-led assembly, loyal to Governor Fubara, told the court that Amaewhule was not the lawful speaker of the assembly, as his seat had been declared vacant on December 13, 2023, following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The assembly, therefore, argued that Amaewhule was not authorised to file the suit and had decided to change its counsel.
“The 1st plaintiff herein has changed their counsel, J.B. Daudu, SAN, of J.B. Daudu & Co., and now briefs S.A. Somiari, SAN, MCIArb (UK), of Sammie Somiari & Associates for legal representation in this suit,” the Oko Jumbo-led assembly stated.
Justice Abdulmalik dismissed the application for a change of counsel after it was moved by Somiari.
The judge also rejected oral applications by the defence lawyers, including Femi Falana, SAN, representing the 7th and 9th defendants, who sought an adjournment to respond to the plaintiffs’ processes.
Falana argued that he had just received a bundle of documents from the bailiff a few minutes before the proceeding and needed more time to respond.
The Rivers government had objected to the suit being heard in Abuja, but the court overruled the objection.
This prompted the state government to approach the Court of Appeal for intervention.
The state filed an appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1197/2024 and sought a motion for the Federal High Court to stay proceedings until the appeal was determined.
Justice Abdulmalik, after considering all applications and motions on the substantive matter, reserved judgment for a date to be communicated to the parties.
