Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has attacked the court judgement that halted the transfer of financial allocations to Rivers State.
Ajaero said on Friday at a meeting with NLC members in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state.
In October, a federal high court in Abuja barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from issuing additional financial assistance to the Rivers state administration.
The court ruled that money from the federation account should not be paid to the state until a lawful appropriation act is passed by a validly constituted house of assembly.
The presiding judge, Joyce Abdulmalik, ruled in response to a lawsuit filed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule.
Abdulmalik ruled that Rivers state governor Siminalayi Fubara was incorrect in presenting the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill to a five-member assembly “that was not properly constituted”.
Ajaero stated that workers in River State must be paid on time, and that organised labour will protest any delays.
He said:
“Rivers is among the states where workers collect their salaries as and when due. Anything that will make their salaries delayed for a day — we will all jointly fight it.”
“We have heard the cry of our state council on this issue. And as a responsible organisation, we will stand with them.”
In December 2023, Fubara presented a N800 billion budget projection to the Edison Ehie group of the House of Assembly.
The ‘Budget of Renewed Hope, Consolidation, and Continuity’ was presented in the government house.
In July, the Rivers House of Assembly and Amaewhule, the factional speaker, filed a suit against the CBN and nine others. The suit requested that the court prevent the CBN, commercial banks, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from carrying out any financial instructions from Fubara.
Fubara has already appealed the court decision.
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