10th February 2025
The Supreme Court, on Monday, dismissed an appeal filed by Rivers state Governor, Siminalaye Fubara, challenging the Court of Appeal judgement that affirmed Hon. Martin Amaewhule as the authentic Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly.
The five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, also ordered Fubara to pay the sum of N2m to the Assembly and the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule.
Though the matter was originally fixed for hearing, however, when it was called up, Governor Fubara, through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, announced his decision to withdraw the appeal.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, had on October 10, 2024, , admonished Fubara for failing to follow the rule of law in his actions.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Joseph Oyewole, while dismissing an appeal that was lodged by Governor Fubara, upheld a judgement the Federal High Court delivered on January 22, 2024, which nullified the 2024 budget of Rivers State on the premise that it was not presented before members of the state assembly that were known to the law.
The court ruled that his decision to present the 2024 Rivers State Appropriation Bill to only four out of 31 members of the Assembly was a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The court stated that presenting the budget to just four members contradicted the Nigerian Constitution.
It added, “The appellant hurriedly submitted the Rivers State Appropriation Bill to four members, who then considered, deliberated on, and passed it into law within a few hours.”
The court further held that Fubara’s actions violated Section 96 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires at least one-third of the Assembly members to form a quorum.
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The court noted that “four out of 31 members cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, constitute the required quorum for legislative business.”
Meanwhile, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court also ruled against Fubara’s presentation of the 2024 budget before the four-member Assembly led by Edison Ehie.
The budget presentation was a result of the leadership crisis within the Rivers State House of Assembly. Fubara had argued that the Amaewhule-led faction lost its legitimacy after defecting from the People’s Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
However, the lower courts ruled that he failed to provide evidence of their defection and, therefore, could not legally present the budget to a four-member House.
While deciding the suit, Justice James Omotosho of the high court held that the budget was invalid as it was not properly presented before the Rivers State House of Assembly as required by the law.
He held that Governor Fubara acted like a tyrant when he demolished the Rivers State Assembly complex and withheld funds standing to the credit of the legislative house.
The court also described as unconstitutional the redeployment of the clerk and deputy clerk of the Rivers State Assembly by Governor Fubara.
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Justice Omotosho stressed that the governor lacked the statutory rights to interfere with the operations of the Assembly, adding that he acted in contempt of a subsisting order that barred the parties from taking any steps to overreach the matter that was pending before the court.
Besides, the court held that National Assembly could not take over the legislative affairs of the state in the absence of the preconditions that were listed under section 11 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Following the Court of Appeal judgment, Fubara approached the Supreme Court to set aside the lower court’s ruling and allow him to present the budget to the Ehie-led faction.
However, when the case was called on Monday, Fubara’s counsel, Yusuf Ali, informed the Supreme Court that the governor had decided to withdraw the appeal.
Ali stated that a notice dated February 6 had already been filed, explaining that the appeal had been overtaken by events.
All 17 respondents in the case, represented by various lawyers, did not oppose the withdrawal. However, J.B. Daudu (SAN), representing the 3rd to 12th respondents (National Assembly and its leadership), and Wole Olanipekun (SAN), representing the 1st and 2nd respondents (Rivers State House of Assembly and Amaewhule), requested a cost of N2 million.
Daudu further urged the court to dismiss the appeal rather than strike it out, as issues had already been joined.
The five-member Supreme Court panel dismissed the appeal after confirming that the withdrawal was not opposed.
In a brief ruling, Justice Abba-Aji declared the appeal dismissed and awarded a cost of N2 million in favour of the 1st to 12th respondents.
