President Bola Tinubu has officially forwarded the proposed 2025 budget for Rivers State, valued at ₦1.481 trillion, to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.
During Thursday’s plenary, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, presented the president’s request to lawmakers, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio also read the accompanying letter to members of the upper chamber.
In the budget breakdown, President Tinubu earmarked ₦324 billion for infrastructure projects, ₦166 billion for the health sector, ₦75.6 billion for education, and ₦31.4 billion for agricultural development. He urged the National Assembly to give swift passage to the appropriation bill.
It will be recalled that back in April, Rivers State’s sole administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, disclosed that the state was preparing to unveil its 2025 budget, which would give priority to education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social services.
This development follows President Tinubu’s controversial decision on March 18, 2025, when he suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire state House of Assembly for a six-month period. The president also declared a state of emergency in the state, citing prolonged political instability.
In the aftermath of these events, Tinubu appointed former Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ibas, as the state’s sole administrator.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Okaba, President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), has called on residents of the Niger Delta to remain vigilant against what he described as a deliberate divide-and-rule strategy targeting the region.
Speaking during a News Central Town Hall meeting in Rivers State on Thursday, Professor Okaba — a professor of sociology — expressed concern over the escalating political crisis in the state. “Let me disappoint those who expect me to speak as the president of the Ijaw National Congress; I am going to talk as a professor of sociology,” he remarked. “I have listened to all the contributions, and it is not surprising that we are a divided house,” he added.
Professor Okaba further emphasized, “Rivers matter is a symptom of a failing political system. It is about state capture; when you say state capture, it is not about the capture of River State, it is about the Niger Delta.”
