Ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has expressed concern over levy of conflicting court orders concerning Rivers State cautioning the judiciary not to set the state on fire.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections gave the caution on the heels of a judgement on Wednesday where a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt all payments to the state.
In a statement issued by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, the former VP expressed worries that some elements loyal to the federal government were behind the scenes pulling the strings.
Atiku also wondered why the judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the order when it was public knowledge that Rivers State had already challenged the Court of Appeal’s ruling on the legality of Rivers State’s 2024 budget.
In the statement titled ‘Don’t Set Rivers on Fire,” the former PDP leader said:
“Last week the Court of Appeal declared that the Rivers State budget was illegal because it was passed by an inchoate assembly. The court ordered Governor Siminalayi Fubara to present the budget afresh.
“The Rivers State Government has already filed a notice of appeal so that the Supreme Court can hear the matter. However, some elements in the Bola Tinubu administration have procured a judgement intended to undermine the Supreme Court.
“Even before the judgment was delivered, legal luminary, Femi Falana (SAN) had alerted the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho of possible compromise after house gifts had been presented to judges in Abuja. Sadly, Falana’s warning was ignored.
“Nigeria has descended into the theatre of the absurd since the Tinubu administration took office.
“Courts are playing a more ignoble role in fostering political crises within political parties and even in states. From the emirship tussle in Kano State to the Rivers imbroglio where courts are going as far as preventing elections from holding, taking Nigeria back to the dark days of June 12, 1993 where polls were annulled.
“Sadly, under the leadership of those who claim to have fought for Nigeria’s democracy, the country is descending into chaos with conflicting orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction flying all over the place while judges are being induced in the name of empowerment and provision of houses.
“The result is that Nigerians are gradually losing confidence in an institution which prides itself as the last hope of the common man. Foreign investors will avoid any place where judgments can be bought by the highest bidder.
“Nigeria should not descend to the Hobessian state of nature where life is short, nasty and brutish, where citizens opt for self-help. Rivers State accounts for almost 25% of Nigeria’s oil assets.
“For a country facing an economic crisis worsened by vandalism and banditry, Tinubu should put his 2027 ambition aside and put Nigeria’s interest first.
“We call on the Nigerian judiciary to restore its image before it gets too late,” he added.
