Peter Obi demands reversal of order barring financial allocation to Rivers

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has faulted the court order barring financial allocation to Rivers state.

On Wednesday, a federal high court in Abuja restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from further disbursing financial allocations to the Rivers state government.

Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, ruled that funds from the federation account should not be released to the state pending the passage of a lawful appropriation act by a validly constituted house of assembly.

The suit was filed by Martins Amaewhule-led Rivers state house of assembly.

Abdulmalik held that Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers state governor, erred in presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bill to a “not properly constituted” five-member assembly.

Reacting in a post on his X page on Friday, Obi criticised the decision, and stressed the need for leaders to prioritise the well-being of citizens.

“In my political trajectory, I have consistently refrained from name-calling or engaging in personal disputes, choosing instead to focus on issues that directly impact the masses, particularly the suffering poor of Nigeria,” Obi wrote.

“Despite the national attention the Rivers state crisis has gained, I have largely stayed away from matters specific to a state, but a recent court judgment halting allocations to the state—and the resulting consequences—demands attention.

“This curious decision now calls upon every well-meaning individual Nigerian to appeal for its immediate reversal.”

The former governor of Anambra state said the order may inflict additional hardship and suffering on vulnerable Nigerians.

“Consider the pensioner struggling to survive on a meager income alongside the health workers, school teachers, civil servants, and everyday citizens whose lives are already marked by severe hardship. How much more can they endure?,” he said.

“This latest development risks pushing them even further into distress—even into untimely deaths—by compounding the challenges they face each day.”

Obi added that present efforts should lay the foundation for a better Nigeria.