By Chukwudi Obasi, Abuja
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Rivers has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Sole Administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), to submit a breakdown of significant items in the 2025 N1.48 trillion Appropriation Bill.
Chairman of the committee, Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo), gave the ultimatum on Monday during a budget defence session in Abuja.
He said the committee had reviewed the budget as presented by the sole administrator and raised several concerns.
He directed the administrator to submit the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), a legal document that precedes budget presentation.
Ihonvbere, the Majority Leader of the House, inquired about the allocation of N24 billion for the installation of CCTV cameras in the state government house and requested a detailed breakdown of the sum.
He also queried the N30 billion allocated for the purchase of gunboats and the N23 billion earmarked for contingency reserves, requesting justification for the figures.
The Chairman noted that the committee further observed and questioned the allocation of state funds to existing federal projects without any agreement on refunds from the Federal Government, among other concerns.
“We need additional details for those allocations. We request details of your state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the last three months to enable us to understand your financial flows so that we can assess how to finance the budget deficit and carry out some of the projects.
“We also need details of transfers to local governments, essentially how local government funds that come into the state are being managed at the moment.
“Those documents we have requested must reach us within 48 hours; be rest assured that we are all on the same side in terms of getting Rivers working again.
“We want to ensure that we will promote a lot of accountability and ensure that the interest of the people themselves, no matter how remote they are from the state capital, are protected,” he said.
Ihonvbere commended President Bola Tinubu for his intervention that brought about peace between the suspended Executive and Legislature in the state.
Earlier, Ibas, represented by the Senior Special Assistant on Strategy and Policy, Mr Andrew Nweke, explained that the administration had inherited many of the items in the budget.
According to him, the budget is a reflection of the interests of the Rivers people, as it was designed in line with needs assessments carried out by implementation agencies.
Nweke said Rivers State had many peculiarities, noting that the N30 billion earmarked for gunboats was intended to support security agencies in their fight against insecurity on the waterways.
He added that the state is often affected by floods, insecurity, and other unforeseen natural disasters, stating that the N23 billion contingency fund was intended to address such emergencies.
On the N24 billion earmarked for CCTV in the state government house, Nweke stated that the office of the Governor is one of honour and, therefore, requires modern technological security surveillance and other measures.
He assured the committee that all additional documents requested would be made available to enable a smooth legislative process.
