The Senate has passed through second reading a bill seeking to authorise the issuance of 1.48 trillion naira from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the 2025 fiscal year for Rivers State.
The bill titled ‘Bill for an Act to Authorise the Issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Rivers State’, was read on the floor of the Senate by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, during plenary.
According to the breakdown of the proposed spending plan:
₦120.8 billion is earmarked for debt servicing,
₦287.3 billion is allocated for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and
₦1.07 trillion is designated for capital expenditure.
Bamidele stated that the budget is designed to ensure smooth government operations under an emergency governance structure in the state.
He further underscored that the proposal aims to promote inclusive growth and development with a focus on improving the standard of living for residents.
The bill is now transferred to the ad hoc committee on Rivers emergency rule to supervise and revert in two weeks.
President Bola Tinubu had last week written the Senate and the House of Representatives, seeking the consideration and approval of ₦1.48 trillion Appropriation bill for Rivers State, citing the ongoing state of emergency imposed in the oil-rich state since March 2025.
In the letter read at plenary by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu explained that when approved, the money will be used by the Emergency Rule Government of Rivers State to provide for education, agriculture, provision of free drugs, others.
According to Tinubu, the request follows the constitutional requirement for the national assembly to assume legislative duties for any state under emergency rule where the state house of assembly is suspended or non-functional.
Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu; as well as the Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months in the first instance.
Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he can’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.
The president immediately appointed and sworn in Ibas as the sole administration for the oil-rich Niger Delta state. Akpabio subsequently constituted an 18-member committee under the chairmanship of Bamidele to provide oversight function over the state.
The last time a president declared an emergency rule in Nigeria was on May 14, 2013, when Goodluck Jonathan imposed it on the entire northeast insurgent-ridden states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.
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