- Assures civil servants who haven’t received salary alerts they ‘ll get
- Insists he ‘ll never recognize Amaewhule and his group
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has played down the Federal High Court order which barred him from accessing the accounts of the state government.
On Wednesday a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja delivered judgment in a suit filed by former speaker of the State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule seeking the order of the court to stop the State Governor from accessing funds from the state’s consolidated revenue accounts.
Amaewhule’s grouse was the failure of Governor Fubara to lay the state 2024 budget estimate before the House of Assembly for review and passage.
However, the budget was presented to the members of the Assembly who did not defect to the opposition like Amaewhule and 26 others.
Delivering judgment on the suit, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik said it was unconstitutional for the Governor to be exercising authority over the finances of the state without xue approval from the legislature.
She therefore directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Federal Government, Federal Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC and relevant financial institutions not to honor any request for funds from the Governor until he re-presents the 2024 budget estimate to the Amaewhule led faction of the Assembly.
However speaking Wednesday at the King Alfred Diette Spiff sports complex, Port Harcourt, venue of interdenominational thanksgiving to mark the one year of the failed attempt to remove him from office, Governor Fubara declared that there was no cause for alarm, saying the machinery of his administration would continue to run seamlessly.
He said, “So, you don’t need to bother about the stories on social media. That one is the least of your trouble. By tomorrow, I am still going to pay my contractors.
“By tomorrow, those of you who have not gotten your salaries, your alert will also come to you. Local Government Chairmen, they have had their JAAC, your money is coming to your accounts.
“Who is the loser? We are not doing luncheon here to celebrate loss or failure. We are praising God because He is taking us to a higher position. So, you see the reason why you need to be happy? You see the reason why we chose today to celebrate the goodness of God in our State and in our lives? We can’t thank Him enough.”,
Gov. Fubara noted that those who had attempted to end his administration undemocratically, had boasted then to achieve their purpose quickly to boot him out of office within one week but have failed woefully.
The Governor said he had not only stayed in office more than one year and counting, his administration was forging on strongly with sterling leadership, focused on delivering social services and quality projects to Rivers people.
He expressed gratitude to God for His divine rescue by frustrating the schemes of detractors, acknowledging that without the overwhelming but organic support of Rivers people, his winning over his transducers would not have been entirely as sweet as it is now.
The Governor said, “If you were not with us, if you had not stood with us, we won’t be here at this hour. A lot of you might not understand what happened on the 30th of October, 2023. It was an assassination to the people of Rivers State, indirectly and assassination at me directly.
“Since they can’t kill everyone of you, they need to kill one person so that everybody will be declared dead. But somehow, somewhere, by the special grace of God, they failed. And the God that we are thanking today, what they meant for evil, God turned it to good.”
Governor Fubara mocked his detractors who had remained determined to derail governance, and insisted that despite their antics, his administration had demonstrated prudence, transparency and accountability in handling the financial resources of the State.
Such public financial diligence, he noted, had attracted commendations from BudgIT, a civic-tech organisation that assessed Rivers State as maintaining the Number One spot in the 2024 Fiscal Performance Ranking among the 36 states of the Federation.
He said, “I can tell you, they said we are not going to last for one week, we are here, we have done one year plus. We are also doing one year anniversary of their attack.
“They said those buccaneers will not leave as local government chairmen, today, we have the 23 local government chairmen sitting here with us. They said their commissioners should resign so that we will be crippled. Today, we have more than 23 commissioners.
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“They said, in a programme in Rivers State University, that we are not going to do anything, and that they want to frustrate us. They are going to make us not to succeed. But by the special grace of God, we have embarked on projects that are touching the lives of Rivers people.
“We didn’t end there. We have shown prudence that we are not here to steal your money; that we are here to be accountable. And yesterday, we saw it, it was declared by BudgIT that Rivers State has shown Transparency and Accountability and has ranked us in Number One position.”
Governor Fubara told the people that, so far, the journey of governance had been rewarding, adding that the most difficult part of the struggle had been experienced.
He insisted that there was nothing happening now that cannot be surmounted, and urged all Rivers people to brace up, be strong and be assured that the unity and peace was still intact.
Governor Fubara restated the commitment of his administration to defend the interest of the State genuinely, adding that with the support of Rivers people, together, they would journey to the end.
The Governor also used the occasion to reflect on the Presidential Peace Accord saying while he sincerely implemented the details of the Peace Accord, including withdrawing legal suits, the other party violated the accord, and went ahead to pursue their suits and secured judgment in their favour.
He said, “We made a promise to you that we will continue to defend and protect the interest of Rivers State genuinely, and we are not going back on that. We will do it, and we will follow through with it. With your support, we will journey it to the end.
“Because we are people of peace, if there is any advantage that was taken over us, it is because of our genuine interest for peace. The preacher said something about peace. I want to tell you that we went to Abuja and Mr President, knowing the importance of peace in Rivers State, brought out some conditions. We came back here to this State.
“First, we did everything that had to be done with those conditions. We went to court immediately, withdrew our matters, but they did not. And you call yourself honourable, when you cannot even obey simple instruction, and you blame it on Fubara.
“How is Fubara the problem? Fubara is not the problem! It was because we withdrew our matter, even the matter you filed, and we said we don’t want to continue: you took advantage of it, and went and got a judgment. Is it not fraud?”
Governor Fubara said such dishonourable persons should not come to the public to demand that people must listen to them.
He insisted that he acted more honourably, believing that the agreement should be what should bind everybody together.
He explained, “When I discovered that I was being ambushed, not by the person who initiated the peace, but by people who believed that they were smarter.
“But you know such smartness, no matter what you call yourself, it is still foolishness before God. That is why, as they said, those other things that they are looking for, to make them feel they are coming back to life, we will not do it. So, let me see how they will come to life when we don’t do it.”
Governor Fubara described the evening as an enactment of the peace of God enthroned in Rivers State.
He said Rivers people are leaving the arena confident that God is taking them to greater heights of peace in the State because of the genuine hearts craving for people.
He enjoined all true Rivers people to be strong and remain keyed into the overwhelming peace reigning in the State.
Delivering a short exhortation, Rev. Umai Ukpai harped on the importance of peace in every individual’s life and in Rivers State, emphasizing that God abhors trouble makers whose activities are geared towards disrupting the peace and creating an uncomfortable living environment.
Rev Ukpai declared that enough is enough for such people while demanding for peace, and invoking the wrath of God on disobedient persons who think they are so powerful to kick people out of their land or from any position of appointment because, according to him, God has arisen to preserve his own.
Highlights of the event included performances by Government House Choir, Preye Odede, Mbata, Ada Zion, Jackson Jones, Okopi, St. Jude’s Military Church Choir, Asu Ekiye, Frank Edwards, and Joe Praise, among others.
