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Time to consolidate – Fubara *Rivers budget hits N1.1trillion in 2025
With an increase of N300billion over the 2024 budget of N800billion, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Monday presented a 2025 budget proposal of ₦1.1 trillion to Rivers State House of Assembly, named Budget of Inclusive Growth and Development, introducing a fresh chapter in an already charged political atmosphere in the state that plunged into crisis since October 2023.
Fubara, who arrived at the Assembly complex with members of his cabinet and other top government officials, came into a warm reception of the four-member Assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo, the Speaker, which suspended House to allow for his address, in which he described the 2025 budget as a blueprint for consolidating the achievements of his administration in 2024 while charting a new course for sustainable development.
Highlighting the performance of the ₦800 billion 2024 budget, the governor stated that Rivers State recorded significant milestones, particularly in economic growth and revenue generation, adding that that Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) rose to over ₦250 billion naira, and it was expected to close at ₦300 billion by the end of the year, marking a record 100 per cent increase over the previous year.
This, alongside ₦300 billion received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), enabled the state to execute transformative projects across sectors, he said stating that his government, was building on this success, to propose the budget of ₦1, 188, 962, 739, 932. 36, comprising Recurrent Expenditure of ₦462 billion and Capital Expenditure ₦678 billion, reflecting a 44% to 56% ratio.
The governor outlined the expected revenue streams to fund the budget, including ₦264.3 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), ₦18.2 billion from Statutory Allocation, ₦132.1 billion from Mineral Funds, ₦204.2 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) and ₦32.2 billion from Refunds Escrow, Paris/ECA, ₦27.5 from Refands from Bank Charges and ₦20.6Bn from Excess Crude Account.
Stating that the projections were based on economic indicators such as an oil price of $80 per barrel, a production target of 1.8 million barrels per day, an exchange rate of ₦1,500 per dollar, and a 22 per cent inflation rate, he emphasised that the 2025 budget prioritises key sectors critical to the state’s development, including Agriculture to ensure food security; Education for improved access, infrastructure, and quality of learning; Healthcare; Social Investment to empower vulnerable groups and foster equity and Infrastructure Development to enhance connectivity and economic activities.
He said: “Mr Speaker, it is worthy of note that this is the first time the State Government would record a historic N100 billion increase in IGR in a succeeding year. Most interestingly, the phenomenal increase was realized without raising or imposing new taxes, which underscores the success of our administration’s commitment to enhancing domestic resource mobilization as the primary source for funding the government’s expenditures and the measures we have put in place to drive this vision.
“The organic increases in our internally generated revenue also show that the State’s domestic economy is on the right path to real and sustainable growth and that it is only a matter of time before we realize our abiding drive for economic self-reliance and sustainability.
“Furthermore, we funded our expenditures and met all our debt repayment obligations for fiscal year 2024 without taking any new loans as a deliberate strategy to reduce deficit financing in line with our commitment to prudent management of available public funds to ensure real and sustainable economic growth and development. Mr Speaker, on the expenditure side, the good news is that the 2024 recurrent budget was fully funded, thereby recording a 100 per cent implementation.”
Oko-Jumbo, who was elected Speaker after the resignation of Edison Ehie, to take up the position of Chief of Staff (CoS) to the Fubara, in his comment at the occasion, the second time the governor would be presenting his budget since assuming office on May 29, 2023, commended the guest for his vision and commitment to the state’s progress.
Nothing outside external intervention free from direct and indirect government influences, will assuage the feelings of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), in his current ordeal with the Federal Government
He wants President Bola Tinubu to constitute an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel to probe the controversy surrounding the council and the alleged N1.3 billion budget allocation.
Adeyemi, who made the request through an open letter to the President is emphatic that the current efforts by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the PFIPC scandal, would yield little positive result.
Maintaining that he did not believe the agency would come up with the true picture of what transpired, in the saga, which has seized the national space in the last three weeks, Adeyemi, said impartiality under the current framework of ICPC was almost zero.
In the letter copied to both Nigerian and global institutions, he wrote: “I commend your recent directive tasking the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with investigating the circumstances surrounding the PFIPC Scandal and ₦1.3 billion allocation inserted into the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
“This directive is a vital first step, but the structural realities of this investigation compel me to speak out of a profound desire for absolute transparency.
“Under the current framework, obtaining a truly impartial hearing presents severe structural challenges. The public narrative emanating from official channels remains heavily weighted toward my immediate arrest, effectively overshadowing the gravity of the systemic vulnerabilities and high-level involvement I have brought to light. True accountability cannot be achieved when the agency conducting the investigation answers directly to the branch of government within which the core allegations lie.
“Furthermore, I must state clearly that walking freely into custody under the current arrangement poses an immediate, existential threat to my life. I have received verified, highly reliable intelligence indicating that I am targeted for elimination the moment I surface in an unmonitored environment.
“This is not an unfounded fear. My concerns are deeply validated by the highly alarming events surrounding Mr. Dolapo Babatunde Tanimola, a central intermediary in this matter.
Official reports claim Mr. Tanimola tragically died in a sudden fire incident at Kachi Hotel in Utako, Abuja. Yet, there remains a total absence of independent eyewitness or media verification of any such inferno.
“More disturbingly, under highly unclear circumstances and without the official involvement of any federal capital regulatory agency, the entire Kachi Hotel structure was swiftly invaded by unidentified armed actors and manually demolished down to the rubble days later — effectively erasing a vital physical crime scene and erasing material evidence.
“Following this calculated destruction of a key locus of this investigation, alongside multiple direct attempts on my life and the safety of my family, I am forced to communicate from a secure, undisclosed location.
“If this investigation is to command the absolute trust of the Nigerian public and the international community, it must transcend standard bureaucratic boundaries. Therefore, I respectfully urge Your Excellency to expand the scope of this inquiry by establishing an independent, multi-stakeholder investigative panel.
“To guarantee complete neutrality, this panel should comprise:
- Civil Society Organisations: Specifically Amnesty International, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and other transparency Organisations.
- The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): To guarantee strict adherence to constitutional due process.
- Independent Media Representatives: Selected members from reputable print and broadcast institutions to ensure unfettered, transparent access to documentation.
- International Financial Observers: Representatives from the World Bank and the IMF, given that the funds in question tie directly to multilateral credit frameworks.
- Human Rights Observers: Amnesty International, to monitor compliance with international safety and legal standards.
- Diplomatic Observers: Representatives from the United Nations, United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, ECOWAS and the African Union.
- Statutory Enforcement: The ICPC and EFCC, serving as technical partners within this broader, independent coalition.
“The moment this independent, multi-stakeholder panel is constituted, I will immediately step forward to present comprehensive documentation and verifiable evidences. A system cannot credibly investigate itself when its own key actors are central to the discourse.
“By broadening this panel, you will demonstrate to the world that your administration’s commitment to anti-corruption is absolute, institutional, and above palace politics. The international community is closely watching how Nigeria handles this test of fiscal integrity and governance.
“I remain fully prepared to present the facts and cooperate entirely with a balanced, secure and independent panel.”
All is now set for the wholesome debate on President Bola Tinubu’s proposal for the creation of state police, with members of the House of Representatives, abandoning their own version of the pitch in favour of that of the executive.
The development, which was part of Tuesday’s plenary, saw the members began an accelerated hearing on the version of the legislation submitted by the President recently, leading to its speedily racing through the first and second readings to rest at the committee stage.
After the Green Chambers adopted the presidential version, effectively suspending the House’s earlier proposal, and attention shifted to the Executive-backed amendment, the document was transported to the House Committee on Constitutional Review for further legislative action.
The Executive bill is expected to undergo detailed scrutiny at the committee stage, where lawmakers will examine its key provisions before it is returned to the floor for further consideration.
Atiku Abubakar seventh attempt at the presidency has been halted by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which held that David Mark is not the fit and proper person to assume the position of the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) – the camp that produced the former Vice President as candidate of the party.
Hours after the former VP, who had attempted the bid for the nation’s number one job and is on the seventh edition by virtue of his nomination for the 2027 presidential election by the Mark, agreed with the position of the Federal High Court, Abuja, restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from recognising or participating in any state congresses organised by the former Senate President.
Justice Okon Abang, while reading the lead-judgement in the three-to-one split, said there was no reason for the appellate court to set aside the April 29 order by the lower court, adding that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, who barred Mark and his executives from interfering with the tenure and functions of the party’s elected state executives, was in order.
Agreeing that the responsibility for conducting state congresses of political parties rested with elected state executive committees and not with the national leadership, he ordered INEC not to recognise the executive produced as a result of the defective process.
Though his position was echoed by Donatus Okorowo in the majority, Justice Abba Mohammed, who disagreed sharply, with a dissenting judgment, held that the case that precipitated the restraining order bordered on a non-justiciable internal affair of a political party, adding that lower court was wrong to have assumed jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
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