FCT, Abuja – The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Thursday, October 10, affirmed the judgment of the federal high court (FHC) which set aside the N800 billion budget passed by five members of the Rivers state house of assembly.
The present chief of staff (CoS) to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Edison Ehie led the quintet at the time.
The Rivers political crisis was evolving at the time and Ehie was the factional speaker of the state house of assembly.
In the unanimous judgement, the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the Governor Fubara on grounds that it lacked merit. It held that Fubara withdrew his counter-affidavit at the lower court in the matter and as such cannot start an appeal in a matter he did not challenge at the trial stage.
The court said that Governor Fubara is expected to apply the rule of law and not the rule of might.
Furthermore, the court described the present situation in the Rivers state house of assembly as “an executive dictatorship” by Governor Fubara and “a joke taken too far”.
More to come…
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
