Rivers Assembly Gives Fubara 48 Hours To Present 2025 Budget
The Rivers State House of Assembly has given Governor Sim Fubara 48 hours to present the 2025 budget to the lawmakers.
The lawmakers said this during plenary in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Governor Fubara had on January 2nd, signed a ₦1.1 trillion 2025 Budget into law after presenting it to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led lawmakers.
But months after, specifically last week, the Supreme Court ordered Martin Amaewhule and the group of lawmakers he is leading to resume sitting as legitimate members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
That move ended months of tussle over the leadership of the Rivers State House of Assembly with two sets of lawmakers laying claim to the legislative body.
However, in their first sitting after the historic judgement, the Rivers State Assembly asked Fubara to present the bill he had christened “Budget of Inclusive Growth and Development”.
The Supreme Court had also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withhold allocations for Rivers until it purges itself of what the court describes as flagrant disobedience to court orders.
It also nullified the local government elections in Rivers State which was conducted last year.
Following the verdict, Fubara ordered fresh council polls for the state, priming to obey the judgement of the apex court.
“Furthermore, given the outlawing of caretaker arrangements in the local government system, I hereby direct the Heads of Local Government Administration to immediately take over the administration of the 23 local government councils pending the conduct of fresh elections by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission,” the governor said in a state broadcast on Sunday.
He asked the “outgoing local government chairmen to formally hand over the levers of power to the Heads of Local Government Administration by Monday, 3rd March 2025”.
