EMMANUEL NLEWEDUM, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara on Monday presented the 2025 budget of N1.1trillion to a 3-man Rivers State House of Assembly led by Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo.
Governor Fubara presented the 2025 Appropriation Bill tagged; “Budget of Inclusive Growth and Development,” to the 3 lawmakers loyal to him despite the crisis rocking the assembly, following a failed impeachment attempt against him last year and subsequent defection of 27 members of the house led by Hon. Martins Amaehwule.
Governor Fubara shunned the embattled 27 lawmakers loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, for the second time in his budget presentation, having overlooked them in 2023, leading to an unresolved legal tussle surrounding the 2024 budget.
The governor had, in 2023, presented a N800 billion Appropriation Bill for the 2024 fiscal year to a 4-member Assembly, then led by former leader of the house, Edison Ehie, who later became factional speaker, and now Chief of Staff, government house.
From the total sum, a total of N462,254,153,418 was allocated to recurrent expenditure and N678,088,433,692 for capital projects, bringing the total appropriation to N1,188,962,739,932.
Speaking during the budget presentation, Fubara said the 2025 budget also includes a planning reserve of N35.688 billion and a closing balance of N12.931 billion.
He said the budget is premised on achieving sustainable economic growth, accelerating development, and improving the living standards of the people.
He stated that the budget prioritizes agriculture, economic growth, quality education and healthcare delivery, basic infrastructure, and social investments.
In the area of agriculture, the Governor said the state will allocate nearly N31 billion to support interventions in agricultural development. This sum will enable the state to implement a comprehensive agriculture transformation support program for youths and contribute to resolving the challenges of youth unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity.
On education, he said the state will spend over N63 billion to provide access to quality education at all levels. This includes rehabilitating and equipping dilapidated public primary and junior secondary schools, providing free basic education to children, and recruiting 3000 teachers to improve the teacher-learner ratio.
In the health sector, Governor Fubara said the state will spend N97.750 billion to provide quality and affordable healthcare services. This includes completing and equipping zonal hospitals, constructing the expanded neuropsychiatric hospital, and rehabilitating general hospitals and health centers across the state.
He emphasized the importance of providing effective governance, public administration, social investments, and security of lives and property. He said the state will allocate over N213 billion for these purposes, including building the capacity of the civil service, strengthening the state’s security apparatus, and supporting the security agencies.
The governor used the medium to announce that the state recorded “unprecedented investments and significant impact” in road infrastructure, healthcare, education and security
He also proclaimed a major boost in the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2024, projecting that the 2024 IGR would exceed N300 billion by the end of December with an increase of over N100 billion compared to 2023.
He disclosed that the growth was achieved without introducing new taxes and attributed the success to improved domestic resource mobilisation.
He said the state had met all its 2024 debt obligations without taking new loans, achieving full implementation of its recurrent budget.
His words, “We are expecting the internally generated revenue for 2024 to close at over N300 billion by the end of December 2024, which is over N100 billion more than the total receipts for 2023.”
He said, “Mr Speaker, it is worthy of note that this is the first time the State Government would record a historic N100 billion increase in IGR in a succeeding year.
“Most interestingly, the phenomenal increase was realized without raising or imposing new taxes, which underscores the success of our administration’s commitment to enhancing domestic resource mobilization as the primary source for funding the government’s expenditures and the measures we have put in place to drive this vision.
“The organic increases in our internally generated revenue also show that the State’s domestic economy is on the right path to real and sustainable growth and that it is only a matter of time before we realize our abiding drive for economic self-reliance and sustainability.
“Furthermore, we funded our expenditures and met all our debt repayment obligations for fiscal year 2024 without taking any new loans as a deliberate strategy to reduce deficit financing in line with our commitment to prudent management of available public funds to ensure real and sustainable economic growth and development.
“Mr Speaker, on the expenditure side, the good news is that the 2024 recurrent budget was fully funded, thereby recording a 100 per cent implementation.”
Governor Fubara however thanked the Speaker and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for their cooperation,
The Governor urged the lawmakers to consider the 2025 Appropriation Bill, saying it will empower the state to consolidate its gains, stimulate further investments, and take the state to the next level of economic growth, social progress, and shared prosperity.
He said, “Mr Speaker, permit me to express my profound gratitude to the good people of Rivers State for their unwavering support, prayers and trust over the last year and seven months I have had the privilege and honour of serving as their Chief Servant.
“I wish to also thank Mr Speaker and the Honourable members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for standing with us and the people of Rivers State at this inauspicious time.
“Together, let us continue to work towards building a better and more prosperous future for our dear State as I present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to this Honourable House for consideration.”
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