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EXPLAINER: Lawyer gives details of court verdict barring CBN from allocating funds to Rivers govt(Video)
Counsel to the Rivers State authentic lawmakers, James Onoja, SAN has vividly explained the federal high court verdict that barred CBN from allocating funds to Rivers State government.
Onoja in a chat with journalists said’ “One must commend the court for the time and industry put in this judgment, in spite of all the sentiments, in spite of all the intimidations, in spite of all the volley of voices challenging whether the court should go ahead or not, the court delivered its judgment.
“This is a judgment that touches on the constitutional powers of the court and on the extant provisions of the constitution.
“The issues are very clear, let us explain it in a very clear terms; sections 120, 121, 122 and 123 of the constitution clearly stipulated what should be done before the state can spend money, state expenditure.
“And it is clear there that no money shall be appropriated without an appropriation bill being passed by the House of Assembly.
“It is very clear from the judgment of Omotosho which was confirmed by the Court of Appeal that the budget was not properly passed and in a situation like that, if it is not passed within six months, a state is not supposed to collect revenue from the consolidated funds.
He further explained: “That is the issue of law here, that is the extant provisions of the law and that is what the court has confirmed that the Rivers State government has not complied with the requirements of the constitution on appropriation of bills for expenditures and all the things that they need to do in the state government. It is a very clear judgment.
“And then also looking at all the other judgments that has been passed in respect of Rivers State government, it is clear from this judgment which also relies on the judgment of the Court of Appeal that the state government is in violation of the extant provisions of the constitution relating to expenditure and passing of the bill for expenditure.
A further look into the case clearly showed that there’s no basis for comparing what happened during the reign of Governor Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu had created extra local governments and the then President Olusegun Obasanjo unilaterally stop tĥè release of LG funds to the state insisting that he reverts to the constitutionally recognised LGAs.
Lagos state approached the courts anð and the court held that President Obasanjo has no right to stop LGA allocations.
In the case of Rivers State, the governor has been spending public funds without an Appropriation Act for 11 months.
APC challenged the State government thàt same was unconstitutional and the court agreed that it was unconstitutional to spend without appropriation. The State government was ordered to go and do the right thing by presenting the budget before the proper assembly, pending which the Governor is restrained from further expenditure until he obeys.
Doing the right thing simply means you have to go back to the State Assembly to seek approval or you shut down government.
Its worthy to notè thàt this same Governor like President Obasanjo unilaterally seized 21 LGAs monthly allocation for five months and has stopped paying state assembly service còmmission staff and the 27 members and their aides for 12 months, since the crisis started.
The judgement is the law in a democratic society. The 27 Member Assembly is authentic until the Federal High Court and court of appeal judgments are set aside by the supreme Court.
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18 States Move To Block Trump’s Order Ending Birthright Citizenship For Immigrant Children In US
A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday to block President Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating birthright citizenship.
Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump used presidential powers to initiate his long-promised immigration crackdown. His executive actions included an order directing the federal government to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates, and other documents to many children born in the U.S. whose mothers are in the country illegally or whose parents are not legal permanent residents.
According to CBS News, the lawsuit, filed by 18 states in federal court in Massachusetts, argues that Mr. Trump’s initiative violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which has long been interpreted by the federal government to grant citizenship to those born on American soil.
The cities of San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have also joined the suit.
The 14th Amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
“The great promise of our nation is that everyone born here is a citizen of the United States, able to achieve the American dream,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement to CBS News.
“This fundamental right to birthright citizenship, rooted in the 14th Amendment and born from the ashes of slavery, is a cornerstone of our nation’s commitment to justice.”
The lawsuit seeks a preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the executive order and ultimately aims to have it invalidated.
The states participating in the suit include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
“The President’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
The states are asking the court to immediately block the order from taking effect.
Mr. Trump directed that his order should be enforced in 30 days.
In a historic attempt to decolonise the country’s judiciary, President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso has formally banned judges from wearing wigs from the British and French colonial eras.
President Traoré emphasised in his announcement the importance of eschewing colonial-era traditions and implementing customs that respect Burkina Faso’s cultural identity.
The action is in line with his larger plan to fortify national identity and declare the nation’s autonomy from outside influences. The colonial wigs, which have traditionally stood for outside authority in African legal systems, are gradually being abandoned.
Covenant University (CU) has again been listed as Nigeria’s overall best university in Times Higher Education (THE) 2025 Rankings.
In the 2025 rankings, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria came second, displacing the University of Ibadan which occupied the position for the 2024 ccrankings.
The Times Higher Education World Rankings is a comprehensive global ranking of universities published annually.
The 2025 rankings THE said it ranked more than 2,000 institutions from 115 countries and territories.
Globally, Oxford holds on to the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, bolstered by significant improvements in industry engagement and teaching. MIT rises to second place, overtaking Stanford, which drops to sixth.
The ratings were done based on 18 carefully calibrated performance indicators that measure an institution’s performance across five areas: teaching, research environment, research quality, industry, and international outlook.
University of Oxford
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Princeton University
University of Cambridge
Stanford University
California Institute of Technology
University of California, Berkeley
Imperial College London
Yale University
Top ranked Nigerian universities
1. Covenant University
2. Ahmadu Bello University
3. Landmark University
4. University of Ibadan
5. University of Lagos
6. Bayero University
7. Federal University of Technology Akure
8. Federal University of Technology, Minna
9. University of Benin
10. University of Ilorin
11. University of Nigeria Nsukka
12. Ekiti State University
13. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
14. Federal University of Technology, Owerri
15. Federal University Oye-Ekiti
16. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
17. Lagos State University
18. Nnamdi Azikiwe University
19. Obafemi Awolowo University
20. University of Port Harcourt
21. Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto
22. Abia State University
23. Akwa Ibom State University
24. Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike
25. Ambrose Alli University
26. Baze University
27. Bells University of Technology
28. Benson Idahosa University
29. Bowen University
30. Delta State University, Abraka
31. Evangel University, Akaeze
32. Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun
33. Godfrey Okoye University
34. Lagos State University of Education
35. Lagos State University of Science and Technology
36. Nasarawa State University, Keffi
37. Niger Delta University
38. Nile University of Nigeria
39. Osun State University
40. Rivers State University
41. Thomas Adewumi University
42. University of Cross River State
43. University of Maiduguri
44. Veritas University, Abuja
18 States Move To Block Trump’s Order Ending Birthright Citizenship For Immigrant Children In US
Burkina Faso outlaws colonial-era judicial wigs to embrace cultural identity
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