Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has praised the Court of Appeal’s ruling, which overturned orders preventing the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant General of the Federation from disbursing funds to the Rivers State government.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, Falana stated that this judgment, along with the previous ruling by the same court that upheld the recent local government election in Rivers State, aligns with the principles of federalism as enshrined in Nigeria’s Constitution.
“The decision of the Court of Appeal which validated the local government election conducted by the Rivers State Electoral Commission and the judgement of the Court of Appeal delivered today which has set aside the decision that the statutory allocation of Rivers State be seized; these two decisions are in line with the tenets of federalism outlined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Court of Appeal is saying that the fact that you joined federal agencies or federal officers to a case that has to do with the revenue or local government election, or internal affairs of a state government cannot confer jurisdiction on the Federal High Court.
“I am convinced that both decisions delivered by the Court of Appeal will go a long way to reinforce the basic tenets of federalism in this country,” Falana said.
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The SAN argued that the cases in question should not be handled by the Federal High Court, but rather by the State High Court.
In its judgment on Friday regarding the Rivers State revenue allocation, the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Justice Hamman Barka, ruled that the matter was outside the court’s jurisdiction concerning the state’s revenue.
The appellate court, while upholding the appeal of the Rivers State government, also annulled all orders made by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
It declared that it was unconstitutional for her to issue directives limiting the Rivers State government’s ability to access funds from its consolidated revenue fund.
The court concluded that the lower court had overstepped its authority and lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.
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Falana give us chance you want to be recognized while you are busy doing wrong thing on the other side.