FAAC: No Directive Stopping Rivers State Funds – FG
- Says we will only respect appropriate court order
The Federal Government says the ongoing legal tussles notwithstanding, the Rivers State and its local government councils will benefit fully from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue distribution for the month of October 2024.
The government said contrary to speculations in the media space, there is no directive to stop the disbursement of funds to the oil rich State.
Media reports quoted the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Bawa Mokwa, as saying that the government would only respect and comply with appropriate court order on the matter.
According to the media report, Bawa said; “Since there is a notice of appeal, the notice of appeal has overridden the earlier court judgment.
“So far, it is a court order that we will obey; if there is a notice of appeal, Rivers will be paid.”
He further stated that the “disbursement of October allocation to states and local governments by FAAC is ongoing”, adding; “Rivers State will benefit because of a subsisting appeal/stay of execution order.”
The OAGF Spokesperson’s clarification comes on the heels of Friday’s decision by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division to reserve rulings in five separate appeals arising from the judgments delivered by a Federal High Court in Abuja on the current political crisis in Rivers State.
One of the appeals is against the judgment of the High Court stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from releasing federal allocation to Rivers State.
The presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, Justice Hamma Barka reserved the judgments to a date that would be communicated to the parties after all processes filed in the appeals were adopted by counsel.
The appeals listed include CA/ABJ/CV/ 1277/2024; CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024; CA/ABJ/CV/1293/2024; and CA/ABJ/CV/1287/2024 filed against the judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered on October 30, 2024 as well as appeal number, CA/ABJ/CV/ 1196/2024 against the judgment delivered by same Federal High Court on October 2, 2024.
Interestingly, the happenings in the oil-rich state have been attributed to the intractable face-off between Governor Simi Fubara and his godfather, the immediate past governor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
