By Abiola Olawale
Following the protracted political turmoil rocking Rivers State, an eminent professor of Law, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a United Kingdom’s King’s Counsel (KC) Professor Fidelis Oditah has weighed in on the raging battle battle for the soul of Rivers State.
The legal giant who maintained that no court has the power, authority or jurisdiction to withhold the monthly financial allocations to a federating unit in Nigeria because the monies in question do not belong to either Governor Siminalayi Fubara or Nyesom Wike, the two main combatants in the raging war.
Oditah who went on to accuse the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of ‘procuring’ judgments from courts to battle Governor Fubara, stressing that the judiciary has become blatantly compromised by politicians and are thus dangerously pushing democracy.
Oditah, in an interview session with Arise TV, said it appears that some judges have allegedly allowed themselves to be influenced by some powerful politicians.
He stated: “As soon as you go we all knew that soon Mr Wike was going to procure a judgment. I use ‘procure’ because I don’t know how, of course, these cases are argued and of… [Wike] doesn’t seem to lose any case and it’s unusual for a person to always win all his cases whatever the facts are, whatever the legal issues are.”
Speaking further, the legal luminary also argued that the court cannot stop Rivers State from receiving its federal allocations.
According to him, federal allocations are a central tenet of Nigeria’s federal system. He argued that halting the funds not only undermines the people of Rivers State but also creates an alarming precedent that could destabilize the country and undermine federalism .
It would be recalled that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja, had last week Wednesday issued an order stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria from further releasing monthly financial allocations to Rivers State Government.
Justice Abdulmalik held that since January, Rivers State has received and spent allocations based on an “illegitimate” budget, describing this as a “constitutional aberration.”
Reacting Oditah said: “Federal allocations are at the heart of Nigeria’s federalism.Rivers State is not simply Governor Fubara or Minister Wike; it’s a federating unit with a constitutional right to these funds. Stopping these funds harms the people of the state.
“Clearly, the judge did not understand the essence of federalism and had no power… he could not make the order he made because Rivers State cannot be a federating state without being entitled to receiving its share federal allocations.
“There is a clear distinction between the entitlement of a state to federal allocations and the subsequent appropriation of such funds based on a budget passed by the State Assembly.
“The money cannot be stopped. The money does not belong to Fubara. The money belongs to the people of Rivers State.”
The New Diplomat reports that Fubara and his predecessor, Wike, have been locked in a titanic battle for the control of the political structure of the state as well as its economic fortunes.
The raging feud between the duo has triggered political turmoil in Rivers state, culminating In conflicting and multiple court orders and polarization of the Rivers House of Assembly into two diametrically opposed groups/Pro-Fubara and Pro-Wike.
In December 2023, Fubara and Wike signed an eight-point plea deal purportedly to address the raging feud.
The peace deal was signed at the presidential villa in Abuja after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu. However, since that development, the crisis in Rivers State has continued unabated with worsening dimensions.
