Sam Amadi, a lawyer and analyst with Arise News, has voiced strong reservations over the recent Federal High Court ruling that bars federal allocations to Rivers State, arguing that it misinterprets the principles of federalism and statutory entitlement. In his interview from 6:46, Amadi emphasized that while Rivers State’s budget may face accusations of incompetence, that should not justify withholding its federal allocation.
Amadi proposed that while the court may declare the budget invalid and restrict actions based on it, using internal legislative shortcomings to authorize federal control over state funds sets a troubling precedent. He argued, “It’s arguably wrong to use internal illegalities to give the Federal Government the right to hijack and keep statutory allocations due to the state.”
In his words;
“Yes, the Governor is running an incompetent Budget, but we have to stop funding him. I don’t think the two are the same. So statutory transfers can go. The Court can declare that the actions, the budget is incompetent and there should be consequences that follow from it meaning that maybe there will be orders to stop them from acting on the budget, but I think that it’s arguably wrong to use internal illegalities to give the Federal Government the right to hijack and keep statutory allocations that are due to the state”