The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has asked a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt to compel the Martin Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly to fix a “reasonable time and date” for Governor Sim Fubara to present the 2025 budget.
DAILY POST reported that despite a letter from Fubara to Speaker Amaewhule, dated 11th March 2025, notifying the lawmakers of his intention to present the budget on 12th March 2025, the gates of the Assembly quarters were locked when Fubara and other government officials arrived for the function. The governor eventually left without presenting the budget.
Speaking after the incident, Fubara accused Amaewhule of deliberately avoiding him. He said he called the Speaker several times, but Amaewhule refused to answer.
Since then, the governor has declared his readiness to present the budget to the Amaewhule-led Assembly, in line with a Supreme Court judgment ordering that the budget be presented before Rivers State can receive allocations from the Federation Account.
The Rivers State 2025 budget was initially passed into law after Fubara presented it to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led three-man faction of the Assembly.
Meanwhile, ALDRAP has taken legal action to compel the Rivers State House of Assembly to provide the governor with a date to re-present the budget.
Amaewhule and the Rivers State House of Assembly were listed as the first and second respondents in the suit, numbered FHC/PH/CS/36/2025.
In the suit, filed on 14th March 2025 by their lawyers, Nnadum Nso Obulor and Prince Benson Ubi, ALDRAP requested the court to grant leave for an order of mandamus, directing and compelling the respondents to:
“Fix a reasonable time and date and to provide such reasonable avenue and courtesy to the Governor of Rivers State, in a manner devoid of rancour and intimidation, for the presentation of the Appropriation Bill for the year 2025 and/or any such bill necessary for the due administration, receipt, and expenditure of funds/money due or standing to the credit of the Government of Rivers State.”
Stating the grounds for the lawsuit, the legislative lawyers noted that, as a result of the Supreme Court judgment delivered on 28th February 2025, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant-General of the Federation will not release federal allocations to the Rivers State government until the 2025 budget is presented to the House of Assembly and passed into law.
The group also emphasised that in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, the governor had communicated his intention to present the budget to the respondents, but the lawmakers had refused to provide the necessary avenue and courtesy for him to do so.
The plaintiffs further noted that the governor reiterated his intention to re-present the budget in a letter dated 19th March 2025, expressing concerns that the respondents might once again reject him unless compelled by the court to accept and receive the Appropriation Bill.
“Our members are persons who may be directly affected and will suffer untold hardship and irreparable damage should the federal allocation due to Rivers State be withheld.
“Therefore, it has become imperative that this honourable court grant us leave to seek order(s) mandating the respondents to provide the necessary avenue and courtesy required for the presentation of the Appropriation Bill for 2025 by the governor, and an order mandating the respondents to pass the bill into law within a reasonable time,” the group stated in the originating summons.
In an affidavit supporting the originating summons, ALDRAP’s Executive Secretary, Dr Clinton Tonye Jaja, argued that the Rivers State government relies on federal allocations to pay salaries, settle contractors engaged in essential projects, and provide security for lives and property in the state.
Jaja added that apart from the broader negative impact on the state, members of the association who are natives or residents of Rivers State would also suffer, as the government would be unable to pay their salaries, entitlements, and benefits.
He further noted that while the decision to halt federal allocations is already affecting the Rivers State government, the full implementation of this decision would have severe and far-reaching consequences.
Pointing out that the association had served a pre-action notice on the Amaewhule-led Assembly, demanding that it fulfil its constitutional duty by enabling the governor to present the 2025 budget, Jaja argued that granting the application would ensure economic justice for the people of Rivers State.
“There is no other remedy that can effectively resolve this situation other than an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to perform their public duty,” Jaja added.