Reps okay  N1.48trn Rivers 2025 budget, redirect  contentious  items

The House of Representatives, yesterday, passed the N1.48 trillion appropriation bill for Rivers State for the 2025 fiscal   year. The lawmakers, however, cut   N35 billion from allocation earmarked for CCTV installations, gunboat purchase and surveillance contracts.

At a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, the House considered and adopted the report of its Ad-Hoc Committee on Rivers State, chaired by the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo), before reading the bill for the third time and passing it.

Speaking during the consideration of the committee’s report, Ihonvbere said the panel also redirected over N30 billion from the controversial security-related votes to other priority projects, insisting the adjustments were necessary to ensure prudent use of state resources.

He said the budget sets aside N256.42 billion for personnel, N162.58 billion for overhead, and N1.06 trillion for capital expenditure for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025.

The decision followed earlier concerns by the ad-hoc committee over several allocations, including N24 billion for CCTV at the Government House and N30 billion for gunboats, which the panel queried during budget defence.

Stakeholders and political observers in Rivers State have said that the passage of N1.48tr Rivers 2025 budget has provided a platform for the return of democratic governance as the six-month suspension of Governor Siminalyi Fubara draws to an end soon.

According to the stakeholders, with the approval of the budget by the national lawmakers, the obstacles between the executive arm of government and the legislature in the past have been removed.