Daily Watch: Court blocks Rivers funds, Kenya reaches IMF agreement

On Wednesday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations to Rivers State.  Justice Abdulmalik held that the presentation of the 2024 budget by Fubara before a four-member Rivers House of Assembly was an affront to the constitution. According to the judge, the state’s current budget was not passed by a lawful arm of the Rivers State House of Assembly. “There is nothing to prove that the governor complied with the law in submitting the 2024 appropriation before a proper parliament,” Justice Abdulmalik held. Specifically, the court pointed out that the Rivers State government missed the point when it failed to accept that the state budget had been invalidated by a Federal High Court, adding that the same judgement nullifying the budget was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja recently.

BudgIT says 32 states relied on the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for at least 55% of their total revenue in 2023. The organisation said 14 states relied on FAAC receipts for at least 70% of their total revenue. In its 2024 “State of States” report, BudgIT said the situation underscored state governments’ heavy dependence on federal revenue allocations, exposing their vulnerability to crude oil-related and other external economic shocks. The report said transfers to states from the federation account comprised at least 62% of the recurrent revenue of 34 states, except Lagos and Ogun, while 21 states relied on federal transfers for at least 80% of their recurrent revenue. The organisation said in the 2023 fiscal year, the combined revenue of all 36 states in Nigeria increased significantly by 31.2% from  ₦6.6 trillion in 2022 to  ₦8.66 trillion, attributed to the removal of the petrol subsidy.

The speaker of Ghana’s Parliament is working towards the recall of the House in early November. This follows the petition of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) caucus of the House to the Speaker to reconvene the meeting to consider urgent matters before it. Speaker Alban Bagbin told a five-member delegation of the Council of State that his office had already started processes to recall the House. The delegation had paid a courtesy call on the Speaker to ascertain first-hand, happenings in the Legislature in recent times, resulting in the adjournment of the House indefinitely. On Tuesday, 22 October, Speaker Bagbin announced the indefinite suspension of the Parliamentary proceedings over the legal battle resulting from his declaration of four seats vacant.

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved the seventh and eighth reviews of Kenya’s programme, the IMF said on Wednesday, paving the way for the government to access a $606 million loan tranche. The East African country and staff of the IMF announced an agreement on the seventh review of its $3.6 billion program in June, but completion of the review at the board level and the subsequent disbursement were disrupted by deadly protests. “Kenya’s economy remains resilient, with growth above the regional average, inflation decelerating, and external inflows supporting the shilling and a buildup of external buffers, despite a difficult socio-economic environment,” IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said in a statement on Wednesday. Government officials have indicated that Kenya will seek another program with the IMF when the current one ends in April 2025.