By James Obogo
Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been urged to rise to the occasion and avoid taking actions that would shut down the government of the state.
The warning was contained in an open letter to the House of Assembly by Senator Lee Maeba who also spelt out the implications of holding the state government to ransom over the decision of Nigeria’s Supreme Court.
In the letter specifically addressed to the Rivers lawmakers, Sen. Maeba, who congratulated them for their return to work, urged them to discharge their functions in the larger interest of peace in the state.
Though Sen. Maeba called attention to the shortcomings in the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter involving the release of funds from the federation to the state, he stated that the action of the apex court was tantamount to shutting down the government of Rivers state.
He also stated that it was not proper for the apex court to jettison the constitution of Nigeria and deny people of the state their fair share of revenue from the federation account.
According to him “The Supreme Court also jettisoned the constitution by suspending the release of funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Republic of Nigeria barring the Central Bank of Nigeria and the office of the Accountant General from releasing all monies due Rivers State government pending the enactment of an appropriations law by your humble legislative chamber.
“All this has the unbelievable implications that Rivers State will become the first state in the country since independence in 1960 to be denied their share of funds from the federation account and possibly the first state government to be shut down in the history of our country Nigeria,” Sen. Maeba stated.
Maeba decried the Supreme Court action of denying local government areas in the state their share of the federation account stating that “Our state produces a reasonable percentage of the national revenue and has been denied our fair share.”
Suggesting a way out of the logjam created by the Supreme Court, Sen. Maeba urged the Rivers State House of Assembly to patriotically work for the interest of the people whose mandate they execute.
He urged them “to act swiftly to avoid the looming crisis of a potential government shutdown by… immediately receive the Rivers State 2025 Appropriations bill from the governor His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara.”
He also asked the lawmakers to “ensure quick deliberations and passage of the bill for assent. After all, we have records of state Houses of Assembly passing their state budget within 48 hours of submission.”
According to him, “these actions are expected by your various constituencies that voted for you to represent them and protect them at times like this. You can’t betray the confidence reposed in you as their elected representative.
“As a representative of your people, who may wish to seek re-election even to a higher office in the future it’s your show of patriotism at moments like these that endures you to your constituents as a dependable person to be returned to office,” he added.
Pointing out the implication of the Supreme Court order on revenue belonging to Rivers state from the Federation account, Sen. Maeba said, the denial will lead to the “closure of all school activities in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions immediately meaning that all pupils and students will be forced to remain at home denying our participation in JSC, SSC, WAEC, NECO, JAMB and other internal exams which spell doom for our state that’s the treasure base of the nation.”
He said the Supreme Court had inadvertently ordered “all Primary Healthcare centres, General Hospitals, and Zonal and Universities Teaching Hospitals will all be forced to shut down immediately with devastating public health and medical consequences for the entire populace.”
According to him, the “impact of a shutdown of medical facilities is a stoppage of paediatric care to infants and unborn babies (unavailability of maternity care and immunisations) which will result in potential deaths of children and adults all over the state affecting people with medical preconditions.
“Civil servants will all be forced to remain at home with potential civil unrest which may give rise to unhealthy social gyrations and create social and physical insecurity.
“Emergency services like firefighters and ambulance services will be shut down and the consequences will be unimaginable; transportation services and movements will be brought to a halt statewide which will present a semblance of wartime fears and uncertainty, and municipal water supplies will be disrupted resulting in a lack of water for both domestic and industrial uses.”
Sen. Maeba therefore called on all members of the House of assembly to rise to the occasion and ensure that the state was not shut down over political differences as the consequences of such would be huge.
