The sole administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), on Wednesday defended his administration N1.48tn 2025 budget.
According to him, the proposed budget is drafted in anticipation of the return of suspended Governor Similayi Fubara, and other elected members of the state.
Ibas made this known before the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Rivers State Oversight in Abuja on Wednesday.
In his words, “In anticipation of the eventual return to constitutional order, the draft budget prudently retains provisions for the offices and functions of suspended political actors, some of whom have already drawn on allocated resources in the first quarter and are expected to resume their duties at the expiration of the emergency period.”
The former naval officer also faulted some officials of the state for making it difficult to access critical information required to “ensure a more complete capture of those expenditures at the time of submission of the budget estimates.
“However, recognising the exigencies under the state of emergency and the need to ensure fiscal credibility, the budget framework integrates expenditure information made available before the submission of the budget proposal to ratify the first quarter expenditures in a lawful and transparent structure.
“This ensures alignment with statutory appropriation protocols while safeguarding the integrity of public finance management.”
Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are due to return to office in September following President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency declaration in March.
