{"id":1899,"date":"2025-02-11T06:03:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T06:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=1899"},"modified":"2025-02-11T06:03:19","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T06:03:19","slug":"rivers-mixed-reactions-trail-supreme-courts-rejection-of-gov-fubaras-suit-ruling-not-against-fubara-rivers-govt-explains-pro-wike-assembly-members-hail-apex-court-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/02\/11\/rivers-mixed-reactions-trail-supreme-courts-rejection-of-gov-fubaras-suit-ruling-not-against-fubara-rivers-govt-explains-pro-wike-assembly-members-hail-apex-court-ruling\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers: Mixed Reactions Trail Supreme Court’s rejection of Gov Fubara’s suit \u2022Ruling not against Fubara- Rivers Govt explains \u2022Pro-Wike Assembly members hail Apex Court ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Our Reporter<\/div>\n
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Supreme Court’s ruling on governor Siminalayi Fubara appeal trailed mixed\u00a0reactions on Monday mandating him to represent the 2024 budget before the Martin Amaehwule-led Rivers State House of Assembly.<\/div>\n
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The apex court dismissed the suit in a ruling delivered by Justice Musa Uwani-Aba-Aji following Governor Fubara’s decision to withdrawal the appeal through his lead counsel, Yusuf Ali SAN.<\/div>\n
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Fubara, had informed a 3-man panel of Justices of the Court that events had overtaken his suit, and the request for the withdrawal of the suit was not opposed by the Martin Amaehwule-led Rivers State House of Assembly, who were represented by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN.<\/div>\n
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The ruling of the Apex Court however sparked celebrations among supporters of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the embattled 27 pro-Wike lawmakers in Rivers State especially as the court awarded N4M fine against Governor Fubara to be paid to the Martin Amaehwule and the House of Assembly led by him.<\/div>\n
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They claimed that the coast had been finally cleared for the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers to take over the House of Assembly fully.<\/div>\n
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Meanwhile, supporters of the Rivers State Governor have dismissed the celebrations claiming victory for the pro-Wike lawmakers as misleading.<\/div>\n
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Former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Asari Toru local government area, Rt. Hon. Orolosama Amachree and strong ally of Governor Fubara told Daily Champion that those celebrating the Apex Court ruling to represent defeat against the governor are doing so in ignorance, as they are totally out of line in their celebration.<\/div>\n
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Amachree who stated that there is no call for alarm said, the decision of Governor Fubara to withdraw his appeal against representation of the 2024 budget was the right thing to do as the matter has been overtaken by events.<\/div>\n
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In it’s reaction, the Rivers State Government through the Chief of Staff to Governor Fubara clarified that the Supreme Court decision on Monday, was about the Appeal Court Judgement that Fubara should re-present the 2024 budget before the Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly, and not the case challenging the leadership of the State House of Assembly and the membership of the members who defected in December 2023 are still before the Supreme Court.<\/div>\n
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The Chief of Staff said since the 2024 budget has been spent, Fubara thought to withdraw his appeal against the judgement because it will be a mere academic exercise to dwell on the matter.<\/div>\n
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He said, \u201cThis appeal SC\/CV\/1071\/ 2024: GOV of Rivers State v Rivers State House of Assembly & Ors that came up today at the Supreme Court has become purely academic.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe case leading to this appeal was before James Omotosho as SUIT NO. FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1613\/2023. It was filed on the 29th day of November 2023.<\/div>\n
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\u201cSUIT NO. FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1613\/2023 pertains to the 2024 budget, which is no longer alive, the monies appropriated therein having been judiciously spent for the benefit of the good people of Rivers State.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe 2024 budget became spent on the 31st December of the 2024 fiscal year. The appeal is of no useful purpose in this year 2025, which has its budget. The only reasonable thing left to do in the circumstances was to withdraw the appeal and have it dismissed.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt would be most unwise to belabour the Honourable Court with academic appeals without any practical or utilitarian value.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt is important to note that after Suit No. FHC\/ABJ\/CS\/1613\/2023 was filed on 29th November 2023, Martin Chike and his 26 friends defected from PDP to APC on the 11th Day of December 2023. Their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly became vacant.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis appeal that was withdrawn today has nothing to do with the seats of Martin Chike Amaewhule and his 26 friends in the Rivers State House of Assembly. The members of the public should not be taken in by the misleading propaganda by Martin Chike Amaewhule and his 26 friends.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Similarly, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Warisenibo Joseph Johnson said the appeal was of no useful purpose as the 2024 budget became spent on the 31st December of 2024 fiscal year, adding that the only reasonable thing left to do was to withdraw the appeal and have it dismissed.<\/div>\n
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The Commissioner said, “There was no Supreme court judgment against Gov. Fubara, ignore the outdated political propaganda by some desperate politicians.<\/div>\n
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“The Supreme Court is a very busy court. It will be most unwise to belabour the Honourable Court with academic appeals without any practical or utilitarian value.<\/div>\n
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“Supreme Court ruled on the Appeal over the 2024 budget voluntarily withdrawn by Gov. Fubara because 2024 budget cycle have ended and no need wasting time discussing a budget that have been fully spent and implemented.”<\/div>\n
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He maintained that Rt. Hon Victor Oko Jumbo remains still authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and nothing can change that.<\/div>\n
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Earlier, the Speaker of the embattled 27 pro-Wike lawmakers, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, had commended the five-man panel of Justices of the Supreme Court for upholding justice and reaffirming the rule of law.<\/div>\n
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Amaewhule in the also expressed gratitude to the FCT Minister and other leaders of State who have supported the throughout this period throughout the period of the crisis.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe Supreme Court has spoken, and the people of Rivers State are elated with this judgement,\u201d<\/div>\n
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The embattled Speaker condemned the Governor\u2019s refusal to provide the Assembly with its statutory entitlements for nearly a year, adding that the Governor thought they would be starved, stating that “today\u2019s judgment has strengthened our resolve and hope in the judiciary.”<\/div>\n
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He accused Governor Fubara of consistently disregarding court orders, warning that all eyes are now on him to see whether he will disobey the Supreme Court\u2019s verdict.<\/div>\n
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He stressed that the Governor has been spending taxpayers\u2019 money for a year without appropriation, in clear defiance of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal Judgements. \u201cToday\u2019s judgment confirms that Governor Fubara has been in gross violation of the 1999 Constitution as amended.”<\/div>\n
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Recalled that the Court of Appeal had, on Thursday, October 10, 2024, dismissed Fubara\u2019s appeal on the same matter.<\/div>\n
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Similarly, the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho on January 22, 2024, nullified the passage of Rivers State\u2019s N800 billion 2024 budget by four members of the House of Assembly.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Our Reporter Supreme Court’s ruling on governor Siminalayi Fubara appeal trailed mixed\u00a0reactions on Monday mandating him to represent the 2024 budget before the Martin Amaehwule-led Rivers State House of Assembly. The apex court dismissed the suit in a ruling delivered by Justice Musa Uwani-Aba-Aji following Governor Fubara’s decision to withdrawal the appeal through his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[219,1140,1139,469,205],"class_list":["post-1899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-budget","tag-claims","tag-dismissed","tag-judgement","tag-lawmakers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1901,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899\/revisions\/1901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}