The decision to withhold Rivers State’s October 2024 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds has been met with sharp criticism, with legal experts questioning its legality. Speaking in an interview with Arise News FROM 4:21, lawyer and human rights activist Liborous Oshoma described the move as an overreach by the judiciary and a violation of constitutional provisions.
“To be fair, a four-man member of a State House of Assembly, contrary to section 91 of the constitution, sitting down to pass an appropriation act is an aberration. It’s a joke like the Court of Appeal had said, a joke taken too far,” Oshoma stated.
He emphasized, however, that addressing such constitutional breaches lies within the purview of the legislative arm and not the judiciary. “It’s left for the House of Assembly to deal with it, deal with the Governor. Copiously, look at the provision of the Constitution and implement whatever sanction or provision that are there to checkmate the executive,” he added.
Oshoma argued that the court’s intervention in suspending the release of funds was unwarranted and lacked legal backing. “The third arm of the government, stepping in to restrain finances to that state—there’s basically no provision in the law that empowers the court to do that,” he asserted.
The controversy stems from a Federal High Court order that halted FAAC disbursements to Rivers State, citing issues with the state’s appropriation process. This has left the state’s finances in limbo, pending an appeal judgment by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.