UPDATE: Rivers Assembly Gives Governor Fubara 48-Hour Ultimatum to Present 2025 Budget

The Rivers State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour deadline for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to submit the 2025 budget. Find out the implications of this directive.

The Rivers State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour deadline for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to submit the 2025 budget to its members.

This was announced during Monday’s plenary session in Port Harcourt, following a motion proposed by Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol.

In accordance with the order of the Supreme Court in Suit No.: SC/CV/1174/2024, which mandates a halt on Statutory Federal allocations to the Rivers State Government and restricts spending from its Consolidated Revenue Fund until an Appropriation Bill is passed, you are required to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the House in compliance with provisions of the amended 1999 Constitution. The lawmakers expressed this requirement in a resolution signed by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, stating that they expect you to present this bill within 48 hours.

In his comments, Amaewhule criticized Fubara’s directive for the heads of Local Government Administration to assume control of the councils, arguing that it is unlawful and contravenes a Supreme Court ruling.

The legislators highlighted to the governor that “the provisions within the amended 1999 Constitution, along with the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment) Law of 2023, and Supreme Court Judgment in Suit No.: SC/CV/343/2024 prohibit anyone other than democratically elected officials from administering Local Governments.”

The House decided to take a recess by Friday, as they have been working continuously for the past two years.

It was intriguing that the 2024 budget wasn’t mentioned at all during the plenary.

On January 2nd, Governor Fubara signed into law a ₦1.1 trillion budget for 2025 after presenting it to the lawmakers led by Victor Oko-Jumbo.

However, several months later—specifically last week—the Supreme Court directed Martin Amaewhule and the group of lawmakers he leads to resume their roles as legitimate members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

This decision concluded months of conflict over the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly, with two groups of lawmakers asserting their control over the legislative body.

In their first session following the landmark judgment, the Rivers State Assembly requested Fubara to present the bill he titled “Budget of Inclusive Growth and Development,” introducing a new dimension to the political developments in this oil-rich state.

In addition to directing Amaewhule and other lawmakers to commence their sessions, the Supreme Court also instructed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend allocations for Rivers until it rectifies what the court termed as blatant disregard for judicial orders.

It also voided the local government elections held in Rivers State last year.

FILE: On June 19, 2024, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara officiated the swearing-in ceremony of the 23 new caretaker chairmen in Port Harcourt.

After the verdict, Fubara requested new council elections in the state and pledged to comply with the apex court’s decision.

Additionally, due to the prohibition of caretaker arrangements in the local government system, I instruct the Heads of Local Government Administration to promptly assume control over the administration of all 23 local government councils until new elections are conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission,” announced the governor during a state broadcast on Sunday.

He requested that the outgoing local government chairmen officially transfer authority to the Heads of Local Government Administration by Monday, March 3, 2025.