By Abiola Olawale
The Rivers State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State to present the 2025 budget proposal for consideration.
The ultimatum was announced during a plenary session on Monday, presided over by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, who leads the majority faction of the Assembly loyal.
Amaewhule, during the plenary also criticized the governor for delays in presenting the budget, stating that the Assembly would not tolerate further disregard for due process.
He asserted: “The people of Rivers State deserve transparency and accountability. We cannot continue to operate without a legally passed budget for 2025.”
The Assembly’s resolution also nullified Fubara’s directive to Heads of Local Government Administrations (HLGAs) to manage councils vacated by elected chairmen who were declared unconstitutionally elected due to absence of legislative approval.
It would be recalled that in December 2024, the governor presented an N1.188 trillion budget proposal to the Oko-Jumbo-led faction, which comprises four members, and signed it into law within 72 hours.
However, in a major blow to Fubara’s administration, the Supreme Court, last week upheld the legitimacy of the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The apex court also ordered the governor to present the state budget to this assembly, effectively tying the release of federal allocations to compliance with this directive.
The court’s ruling also reinforced the Amaewhule-led assembly’s authority, compelling the state government to redirect its financial planning through this legislative body.
This comes following an ongoing dispute over the legitimacy of the Rivers state’s budget process and the composition of its House of Assembly.
The Rivers State House of Assembly crisis began in late 2023, following a fallout between Fubara and his predecessor, the incumbent Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
This rift quickly escalated into a full-blown political battle, fracturing the state legislature into two factions.
On one side is the faction believed to be loyal to Wike, led by Martin Amaewhule, comprising the majority of the Assembly’s 31 members. On the other is a smaller group of lawmakers believed to be loyal to Fubara, initially led by Edison Ehie (who later resigned) and subsequently by Victor Oko-Jumbo.
The conflict reached a dramatic peak when 27 lawmakers, including Amaewhule, purportedly defected from the PDP to the APC in December 2023, citing internal party divisions.
