Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has signed into law the 2024 Budget Appropriation bill he presented and was passed by the five members lawmakers of the state house assembly in less than 24 hours the governor presented the bill.

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara had presented before five lawmakers the 2024 budget appropriation bill at a sitting held inside a hall at the State Government house in Port Harcourt and directed the demolition of the state House of Assembly complex.

According to Punch Newspaper, the budget presentation on Wednesday came a few minutes after the commencement of the demolition of the state House of Assembly complex.

It would be recalled that twenty-seven lawmakers of the House of Assembly had on Monday defected from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

The 27 members, said to be loyal to the immediate past governor of the state and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, were not present at the sitting.

The crisis rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly took a new turn on Monday when the twenty-seven members defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the state to the All Progressives Congress.

The lawmakers, according to reports, cited division within the PDP as the primary reason for their defection to the APC.

The lawmakers, it as we learnt, held plenary around 8am on Monday where the decision to defect to All Progressives Congress was taken.

It was reported that the lawmakers sat under tight security mounted at the entrance of the Assembly complex along Moscow Road in Port Harcourt.

Following the defection on Monday, the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, summoned an emergency executive council meeting. The meeting called, was also to discuss the defection of 27 lawmakers of the State House of Assembly from the PDP to the APC. The meeting which was presided over by the governor is the 5th executive council meeting. The 4th executive council meeting was held on October 27, 2023, where the council approved four draft bills.

The seats of the 27 defected lawmakers were subsequently declared vacant by the remaining 5 honourable members loyal to the State governor. The affected lawmakers were not present at the sitting where their seats were declared vacant. The four-member Assembly, led by factional Speaker, Edison Ehie, loyal to the state governor, on Wednesday, said the decision to declare the seats vacant was in line with Section 109 (1) (g) and 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. The Speaker, who read the names of the lawmakers affected, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct fresh elections within the time frame provided by law to fill the positions. “Distinguished colleagues, the House will duly inform the Independent National Electoral Commission of the vacancies in the Rivers State House of Assembly and indeed, to conduct a fresh election to fill the above vacancies,” he declared.


Constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana, said the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly whose seats were declared vacant were not exposed to sound legal advice.

Falana stated this, according to Vanguard Newspaper, in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is required by law to conduct elections for the seats of the lawmakers.



He said, “The legislators were not exposed to sound legal advice. Everybody should know that once the Supreme Court has made a pronouncement on a matter in any country, you’re bound to comply, and if you’re going to take any decision, you must study the judgement critically.

“Just yesterday, 20 legislators who defected from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC, had their seats declared vacant by the court. That’s the law; unless the Supreme Court decides to change it, that is the law in Nigeria today.

“It’s also a good development; it’s a good law; it’s a good interpretation that there should be no political prostitution in the country, because it’s tantamount to political immorality if you vote on the platform of a political party and you abandon the party; you’re advised to go and try your luck by contesting again under the new political party,” he said. 

Daily Times of Nigeria had reported that the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has been warned to prepare for a tough battle ahead, following his face-off with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The warning came from the Spiritual Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, who said that Fubara’s second-term ambition will be “tough” and that he will face similar challenges to those faced by former Lagos State Governor, Akinwummi Ambode.

Ayodele urged Fubara to seek God’s help, as only he can change Wike’s mind and ensure that Fubara is not impeached. He also warned the governor to be careful of moles in his camp who are working to remove him from office.

He said, “The legislators were not exposed to sound legal advice. Everybody should know that once the Supreme Court has made a pronouncement on a matter in any country, you’re bound to comply, and if you’re going to take any decision, you must study the judgement critically.

According to Ayodele, “He will still face impeachment, but I see him surviving it. The house will continue to be troubled. They will make him uncomfortable and make his first term miserable, but he will survive it if he turns to God for help.”

“There is no amount of what he does; it is only God that can fight for him. There will be so many moles in his camp. It’s unfortunate that this is happening at a time when Fubara is willing to work.

“They won’t appreciate his efforts and they will want to mess him up. Those who are against his governorship will also add to it. The governor must be careful, put his security together and be very prayerful,” he added.

The rift between Wike and Fubara began less than six months after Fubara took office. Wike’s loyalists in the Rivers House of Assembly moved to impeach Fubara, but the governor vowed to resist such a move.

Thereafter, Wike accused Fubara of burning down the state House of Assembly and described the governor as an ingrate.

Excerpts:

RIVERS STATE 2024 BUDGET STATEMENT:
PRESENTED TO THE RIVERS STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

BY HIS EXCELLENCY, SIR SIMINALAYI FUBARA, GSSRS, GOVERNOR, RIVERS STATE, (13TH DECEMBER 2024).

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen.

2. It is my pleasure to be before this hallowed chamber today to present our state’s budget estimates of Revenues and Expenditures for the fiscal year 2024.

3. Before I proceed with my presentation, I wish to, again, thank God for the special opportunity to serve our people as their elected Governor.

4. We thank our dear President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for his special interest in the peace and progress of Rivers State and the bold steps he has taken to revamp the nation’s economy and sustainable development across the country.

5. We are also grateful to the good people of Rivers State and the progressive members of the State House of Assembly for your continuing support and prayer for the success of our administration.

6. We assure you that we will never take your trust and confidence for granted. We will remain faithful to our oath of office and do the best we can to advance the aspirations of our people for good governance, peace, security, and inclusive development.

7. Our spirit is high; our determination is forever strong as we remain focused on delivering on our mandate in an honest, accountable, just, and fair manner to all parts of the State and all segments of society.

8. Under our watch, no part of the State will be neglected in our development agenda; no one will be left behind in the distribution of resources and opportunities.

9. We reaffirm our commitment to working closely with the State House of Assembly to fulfil all our promises and take Rivers State to greater heights of peace, progress, and prosperity.

10.​ Mr Speaker, recall that we launched the construction of the Port Harcourt Dual Carriage Ring Road as a flagship project to accelerate the socio-economic development of our State. Julius Berger has since mobilized to the site and work on this multi-billion-naira project has begun.

11.​ In line with our consolidation mantra, we have in the last six months, completed many of the uncompleted projects we inherited from the immediate past administration, including roads, hospitals, and schools, while those not yet completed, have reached advanced stages of completion.

12.​ Some of the completed roads include Oyigbo – Okoloma Road, Alode – Onne Road, Botem-Gbene-Ue-Hiro Road, Mgbodahia internal roads, Ogbo-Uhugbogo-Udiemude Road, Omoku-Aligwu-Krigene road, Eneka internal roads, Ogbakiri internal roads, and Omagwa internal roads.

13.​ Other roads, which construction is proceeding very well include Ahoada-Omoku dualization, Emohua-Tema junction dualization, Umuakali – Eberi road, Alode-Ebubu-Eteo junction road, Egbu-Ehuda internal roads, Elelenwo internal roads, Rumuepirikom internal roads, phase 2, Bori city internal roads, the Ngo section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo unity road, and the Opobo ring road and electrification projects.

14.​ On education, we have delivered Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borokiri, Government Secondary School, Eneka, Government Secondary School, Emohua, Government Secondary School, Okehi, Comprehensive Secondary School, Alesa – Eleme, Government Secondary School, Ataba, and the 10,000 capacity University of Port Harcourt Auditorium. The hostel and auditorium projects at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School are also almost completed.

15.​ Our commitment to healthcare delivery remains strong. Already, we have delivered the Professor Kelson Harrison Hospital, the Dental, Maxillofacial, Ear Nose Throat and Ophthalmology Hospital, and several primary healthcare centres across the state.

16.​ To accelerate the delivery of affordable housing, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TAF Global Africa and turned the sod for the phased development of 20,000 units of houses in the State.

17. This is another signature project of our administration, which is targeted at creating new model cities within Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of the State with enormous socio-economic benefits to the State and our people.

18.​ On sports development, we have opened the Real Madrid Football Academy for full academic and football training activities with the admission of the first batch of students. We have also rehabilitated the indoor basket hall and pitch at Niger Street, Port Harcourt.

19. We are poised to stimulate industrialization by creating an enabling business environment to attract investors to invest in the different sectors of the State’s economy.

20. To this end, plans are underway to organize the first Rivers State Investment Summit in decades to work out an investment and industrialization road map for the State.

21. We have also approved three bills: the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency Bill, the Rivers State Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund Bill, the Rivers State Electricity Bill, and the Rivers State New Towns Development Bill, which are critical to accelerating investments, job creation, energy security, economic empowerment, and the socio-economic advancement of the State when passed into law.

22. Furthermore, we have concluded arrangements to launch the ₦4,000,000,000.00 seed fund in partnership with the Bank of Industry to support small and medium-scale enterprises across the State at a single-digit interest rate.

23. We have also entered into a memorandum of understanding with an investor to build a modern spare parts market in the State.

24. We appreciate the relevance and importance of the civil service to the development of the State through effective implementation of government policies and programmes.

25. Consequently, our commitment is to strengthen and motivate the civil service for optimal and responsible performance through regular promotions, payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities, and the provision of a good working environment.

26. Accordingly, we are happy to report that we are up to date in the payment of salaries and pensions to our civil servants and concluded the promotion exercise for our mainstream civil servants and other staff, except those without functional governing boards, such as the secondary school teachers and health to legally conduct the exercise, will be done as soon as we constitute the governing boards.

27. We have restored water and installed new lifts at the State’s Secretariat complex to improve sanitation and ease access to the higher floors of the complex.

28. Since we came on board, we have spent over 6 billion naira to pay the gratuities backlog to retired civil servants. Again, our commitment is to ensure that we clear all areas of gratuities owed to civils by previous administrations.

29. Also, the recruitment exercise of 10,000 workers into the State’s civil service is almost completed and successful candidates will receive their engagement letters as soon as the report from the State’s Civil Service Commission is ratified by the State Executive Council.

30. Finally, we have worked with security agencies, local governments, and community leaders to keep our State peaceful, safe, and secure. This is an achievement we will continue to further improve and sustain throughout the yuletide and beyond.

31. Mr Speaker, I have highlighted some of our achievements in policies and projects as a relatively young administration implementing a budget and programmes we inherited from the immediate past administration.

32. As we government, we are satisfied with the modest mileage we have gained in implementing our blueprint despite the prevailing economic hardship and the political challenges and distractions we faced since the inception of our government.

33. Nevertheless, we can assure our people that the tempo of governance and delivery of services in our priority areas of investments and economic growth, infrastructure delivery and job creation, education, healthcare and human capital development, agriculture, and food security will gain traction and accelerate with speed and vigour in the new year.

2023 BUDGET PERFORMANCE REVIEW

34. Mr Speaker, a total revenue of ₦755,666,987.238 was projected for the 2023 fiscal year. This sum included a supplementary estimate of ₦200,000,000,000.00, which we accessed for the exclusive purpose of funding the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road project.

35. The breakdown of the 2023 budget was as follows:

(i) Recurrent Expenditure:₦175,249,692,201.00
(ii) Capital Expenditure:₦380,417,395,037.00
(iii) Supplementary capital estimates:₦200,000,000,000.00
Total:₦755,666,987.238.00

36. As of October 2023, the total actual receipts from all sources, was approximately 66% performance on the revenue side.

37. There were encouraging improvements in internally generated revenue receipts as against the projections for the year, while the performance of recurrent expenditure was 100%.

THE 2024 BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS

38. Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the 2024 budget, christened Budget of Promise is based on the following assumptions:

(i) oil price benchmark of $70 per barrel;

(ii) oil production rate of 1.5 million barrels per day; and

(iii) exchange rate of ₦750 (to 1) US ($) as projected by the Federal Government.

THE 2024 BUDGET SIZE
39. The total projected revenue for Rivers State for the 2024 Fiscal Year is ₦800, 392,485,433.01. This is constituted as follows:

(i) Recurrent Expenditure:= ₦361,598,242,570.85
(ii) Capital Expenditure= ₦410,266,485,090.64
(iii) Total:= ₦800,392,485,433.01

FINANCING THE 2024 BUDGET
40.​ The financial sources of the 2024 budget are as follows:

1. Internally Generated Revenue – ₦231,057,836,945.00
2. Statutory Allocation – ₦68,458,610.00
3. Mineral funds – ₦145,526,581,463.00
4. Value Added Tax – ₦55,650,000,000.00
5. Refunds Escrow, Paris/ECA – ₦1, 200,000,000.00
6. Refunds from bank charges – ₦1, 500,000,000.00
7. Excess Crude Account – ₦1, 700,000,000.00
8. Exchange rate gain – ₦1,200,000,000.00
9. Forex equalization – ₦3,000,000,000.00
10. Other FAAC – ₦5,000,000,000.00
11. Asset sales – ₦20,000,000,000.00
12. Capital receipts – ₦9,879,557,210.00
13. Proposed internal/external grants – ₦24,570,000,000.00
14. International Credits – ₦2, 000,000,000.00
15. Bonds – ₦237,000,000,000.00
16. Internal loans – ₦235, 000,000,000.00
17. Prior year Balance – ₦6, 934,784,872.01

TOTAL = ₦800,392,485,433.01

RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

41. The Recurrent Expenditure is projected to be spent as follows:

1. Personnel Emolument – ₦99, 588,939,939.39
2. New Recruitments – ₦28, 924,562,980.61
3. Overhead costs – ₦18,871,623,339.00
4. Grants,contributions & subsidies – ₦7,908,000,000.00
5. Counterpart pension scheme – ₦15,000,000,000.00
6. Gratuities/Death Benefits – ₦77,850,000,000.00
7. Monthly pensions – ₦30,240,000,000.00
8. Domestic loans interest – ₦32,420,734,367.60
9. Foreign loan interest – ₦536,709,798.04
10. Domestic loan, principal repayment- ₦26,018,966,086.70
11. Foreign loan, principal repayment – ₦5,081,731,374.51
12. FAAC Deductions- ₦12,865,723,913.00
13. COT/Charges/General Admin – ₦5,000,000,000.00

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

42. The capital allocation of ₦410,266,485,090.64 represents about 51 per cent of the total budget projections for the fiscal year 2024.

SECTORAL ALLOCATION OF THE CAPITAL BUDGET

43. The sectoral allocation of the capital budget is as follows:

1. Governance – ₦161,742,835,256.27
2. Information & Communication – ₦2,234,273,168.00

3.Public Administration – ₦13,852,493,641.59

4.Finance and Planning – ₦7,779,818,293.13

5. Agriculture – ₦20,311,574,254.53
6. Infrastructure – ₦128,003,540,952.66
7. Commerce and Investment – ₦1,787,418,534,40
8. Culture and Tourism – ₦1,381,187..049.31
9. Education – ₦40,426,441,994.74
10. Health – ₦30,555.506,748.20
11. Social Development – ₦10,155,787,127.27
12. Environment & Sustainable Development – ₦8,449,614,889.89

13.Judiciary – ₦5,646,617,642.76

The 2024 Budget Policy and Objectives

44. Honourable Speaker, the overall policy objectives of the 2024 budget are to promote economic development in the State through inclusive growth, the provision of critical infrastructure to support economic, business, and social activities, and the creation of an enabling environment for private sector-led industrialization, job creation and poverty reduction.

45. We will strive to address the challenges of socio-economic inequalities by ensuring improved access to quality and affordable education, healthcare, water, electricity, housing, social investments, gender empowerment and social inclusion.

46. This accounts for the reasonably high allocations in the 2024 capital budget to infrastructure, education, healthcare, social development, environment, sustainable development and agriculture.

47. With these funds, we will build more road networks to interconnect the State, rehabilitate, equip, train and staff all dilapidated primary and secondary schools, build technical and vocational education centres, and allocate more funds to our tertiary schools to improve the quality of teaching, learning and research.

48. We will also rehabilitate, equip and staff dilapidated primary healthcare facilities, restore, equip, and staff all our general hospitals, complete, equip and staff all five zonal hospitals, implement socially beneficial healthcare schemes, and introduce social investment schemes to fight poverty, social exclusion, and gender discrimination.

49. Given the importance of the judiciary in the advancement of the rule of law, economic growth, and social accountability, we have also improved the allocation for the funding of the judiciary, law, and justice sectors in this budget to achieve effective and speedy dispensation of justice in the State.

50. We will ensure that accessed local and international credits are used only for capital projects that would benefit economic growth, give attention to the completion of ongoing projects before embarking on new ones, and grow the economy through targeted investments in areas of comparative economic advantage, including commercial agriculture, electricity generation, renewable energy, oil and gas, housing, and sports development.

51. We will also provide our young people with the skills and tools they need to succeed in the 21st-century economy and to ensure that education and healthcare are accessible to all regardless of background and means.

Conclusion
52. Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, thank you again for your patriotism and dedication to the service and advancement of the State.

53. The budget we have put forward reflects our commitment to responsible financial management and our dedication to the progress of our State and the well-being of our people.

54. Our priorities are clear: to secure our State, foster sustainable economic growth, create opportunities for all, invest in the future, and ensure our collective prosperity.

55. As we all know, the security and well-being of the people are the reason we are in government. The budgeting process is fundamental to the realization of this fundamental objective of state policy.

56. We recognize the challenges we face as a State and the pointless efforts to frustrate and sabotage our government even before we get started. As you know desperate situations call for desperate measures. I assure you of our determination to weather the raging storm strategically and responsibly.

57. Mr Speaker, I, therefore, commend this budget to the House of Assembly for your consideration and speedy passage.

58. Thank you for your kind attention. God bless you all; God bless Rivers State.