Tinubu submits N1.481trn 2025 Rivers budget to NASS for approval

President Bola Tinubu has formally requested the National Assembly to approve a N1.481 trillion budget for Rivers State for the 2025 fiscal year.

The request was read by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, during plenary on Thursday.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio also presented the letter before the Senate.

In the breakdown of the proposed budget, Tinubu allocated N324 billion for infrastructure, N166 billion for health, N75.6 billion for education, and N31.4 billion for agriculture.

“The president asked the house to consider and pass the appropriation bill expeditiously.”

This development comes after Ibok-Ete Ibas, the sole administrator of Rivers State, announced on April 3 that a new budget would soon be introduced, emphasizing priorities in education, healthcare, social services, and infrastructure.

On March 18, 2025, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State due to a prolonged political crisis and attacks on oil installations. He suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers State Assembly for an initial six-month period.

Following this, Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired naval chief, was appointed as the sole administrator. He immediately suspended all political appointees installed by Fubara.

The move has drawn criticism from various stakeholders, including the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and has triggered protests demanding Fubara’s reinstatement.

The budget impasse in Rivers State began in 2023 when the House of Assembly fractured into two factions.

In December 2023, Governor Fubara presented an N800 billion budget to a five-member faction led by Edison Ehie, and signed it into law the following day.

In January 2024, a Federal High Court in Abuja invalidated the presentation and passage of the 2024 budget, also restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the accountant-general of the federation from disbursing funds to the state.

Justice James Omotoso ordered Fubara to re-present the budget to a lawfully constituted assembly.

The ruling was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in October 2024 and upheld by the Supreme Court on February 28, 2025.