Following the settlement of the Rivers state crisis and the decision of Edison Ehie who was the Speaker of the State House of Assembly in support of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to step down, the Rivers House of Assembly has passed a resolution urging the Governor to re-present the state’s 2024 Appropriation Bill and the medium-term expenditure framework for consideration.
The decision was made during the adoption of a motion by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhu, during the 90th plenary of the House at the legislators’ quarters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
According to Amaewhu, it is worrisome that the House has yet to receive the budget and the expenditure framework from the executive arm of government.
He further noted that Fubara must, in line with the 1999 Constitution, present both the state’s 2024 budget and medium-term expenditure framework for approval.
News About Nigeria reported that the Rivers state governor, on December 13, presented the state’s 2024 budget of N800 billion to a four-man House of Assembly led by the then Speaker, Ehie, for approval.
Subsequently, Fubara also approved and signed the 2024 budget into law on December 14, 2023.
However, following President Bola Tinubu’s intervention and the subsequent resolution of the Rivers state crisis, Fubara was expected to re-present the budget as part of the conditions to end the political crisis in the state.
Recall that a crisis broke out in the state following the move by the faction of the state House of Assembly in support of the immediate former governor of the state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, to impeach Governor Fubara and the then Speaker of the House, Ehie.
