Rivers State Government has appealed the Federal High Court, Abuja’s judgment which retrained the Central Bank of Nigeria from further releasing allocations from the federation account to the state.

This came as the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, celebrated one of the failed attempts to impeach him by the Martin Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly loyal to the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike.

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said the judgment had been appealed, expressing optimism that the Appeal Court would upturn the judgment.

He said the pointers to the anticipated judgment were glaring, adding that they were unperturbed as they had already instituted an appeal against the Federal High Court judgment.

“We saw this judgment coming the way it did when the trial judge refused 23 council chairmen as joinders, refused the state to change their lawyer and refused our objection challenging jurisdiction of the federal high court.

“The judgment has already been appealed and l believe that the Court of Appeal will upturn the judgment. We are not panicked and there is no cause for alarm,” he said.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Abuja Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday held that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Governor Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the Constitutional provision.

She described Fubara’s receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January as nothing short of a Constitutional aberration that must not be allowed.

Justice Abdulmalik also held that Fubara’s action in implementing an unlawful budget stood as a gross violation of the 1999 Constitution he swore to protect.

She proceeded to restrain the CBN, Accountant-General of the Federation, Zenith Bank and Access Bank from further allowing Fubara access to money from the Consolidated Revenue and Federation Account.

While delivering judgment in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/984/2024, Justice Abdulmalik held that the action of the four-member House of Assembly loyal to Fubara, which he predicated his contentions on to justify what she called an “unlawful budget”, has since been nullified and set aside by the federal high court and the Court of Appeal, Abuja division.

She also declared that the judgment of Rivers High Court, which ruled in favour of Fubara to implement the 2024 budget, had also been set aside by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

Justice Abdulmalik maintained that the apex bank was under constitutional obligation to ensure that the Rivers assembly was properly constituted as required in the Constitution before money from consolidated revenue and Federation Account are released to the beneficiaries.