Lawyer Seeks Court Intervention to Halt Gov Fubara’s Budget Re-Presentation

• Kayode Ajulo, SAN, files suit seeking an injunction to prevent Governor Fubara from re-presenting the 2024 budget in Rivers State
• Legal proceedings create uncertainty as Rivers State House of Assembly takes an alternative approach, allowing commissioner-nominees to take a bow

Kayode Ajulo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has approached a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking an injunction to prevent Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State from re-presenting the 2024 budget to the House of Assembly.

In a suit numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1718/2023, Ajulo also urged the court to bar the House Assembly and the speaker from screening and confirming the commissioners appointed by Governor Fubara. Specifically, he requested the court to acknowledge the motion on notice attached to the suit and halt the holding of plenary sessions by the 27 members of the House of Assembly out of the total 32.

While awaiting a hearing date for the case, the Rivers State House of Assembly took a different course of action on Wednesday. It asked the nine commissioner-nominees to take a bow and go during their reappearance for screening and confirmation.

Amaewhule, a member of the assembly, read the letter from Governor Fubara, seeking the screening and confirmation of the nominees as commissioners. Following the letter’s reading, Major Jack, the Majority Leader of the house, proposed a motion appealing to allow the nominees to take a bow and exit the session.

The legal proceedings cast a shadow over the budget re-presentation and the confirmation of commissioners in Rivers State, adding complexity to the political landscape.