The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, says the Federal Government will be acting in order if it releases the blocked monthly allocations to the newly sworn-in Sole Administrator for Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd.).
The justice minister, who spoke with State House correspondents at the Villa on Wednesday, said an extraordinary situation had arisen in the oil-rich state hence the initial seizure of allocations might be overruled.
Fagbemi said, “An extraordinary situation has arisen in Rivers State. When the administrator comes, he may request for these funds, and to me, it will be in order for the release of that fund, because the extraordinary situation has brought them out of the normal situation of things.”
In a raft of decisions on February 28, 2025, the Supreme Court barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation, and other agencies from releasing funds to the then-Siminalayi Fubara government until it purged itself of what the apex court described as flagrant disobedience to court orders.
President Bola Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu; as well as the Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months.
Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he can’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.
The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives has been expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.
However, the emergency rule has been praised by the pro-Nyesom Wike suspended lawmakers, who accused Fubara of contravening the apex court ruling on the political situation in the state.
