Federal allocation to Rivers, Okpebholo’s suspension of civil service recruitment, other stories from South-south

This is a review of major events in Nigeria’s south-south region last week.

Lawmaker’s criticism of Supreme Court judgment on LG autonomy

A Federal lawmaker criticised Nigeria’s Supreme Court over its judgment that granted financial autonomy to local governments in the country.

Nigeria’s highest court, in its judgement, abolished the “Joint Account” – a medium through which the state governments receive federal allocations before they are shared with different local governments under them.

This newspaper reported last Monday that the lawmaker Mark Esset, who represents Uyo Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, argued that the joint account is a creation of the Nigerian Constitution and, therefore, cannot be abolished unless through a constitutional amendment.

The lawmaker concluded that the court judgement amounted to putting the cart before the horse.

Navy destroys illegal refinery sites

We reported on Wednesday how a naval unit, Operation Delta Sanity, destroyed 23 illegal refinery sites and uncovered large quantities of stolen crude oil.

Court validates Rivers LG poll

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State’s quest to control grassroots political structure in the oil-rich state received a boost last week as the Appeal Court in Abuja validated the 5 October local elections held in the state.

This newspaper reported last Friday how the appellate court overturned a trial court’s judgement barring the Independent National Electoral Commission from releasing voter registration to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the election.

The case was instituted by a faction of the All Progressives Congress in the state.

Rivers federal allocation saga

The oil-rich Rivers State has continued to make headlines over its prolonged political crisis.

On Friday, we reported how Governor Fubara urged the Court of Appeal in Abuja to vacate the trial court’s order stopping federal allocations to the state.

The appellate court had reserved judgement in the case, prompting the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to announce a halt to federal allocations to Rivers.

However, on Sunday, this newspaper again reported that the OAGF had rescinded its decision and released funds to the state, saying that the appeal had overridden the trial court’s order.

A group of lawmakers loyal to Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister and immediate-past governor of the state, instituted the suit against Governor Fubara.

Okpebholo suspends Obaseki’s recruitment

On Friday we reported how Governor Okpebholo suspended recruitment done by his predecessor and, hours after, declared 200 government vehicles missing.