Rivers administration increases 2025 budget by N365bn, defends adjustment before Senate committee

The 2025 budget of Rivers State emergency administration has been increased by N365 billion, raising the total estimate from the initial N1.48 trillion proposed by President Bola Tinubu to N1.846 trillion

The Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas, disclosed this on Thursday while defending the revised budget before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee tasked with oversight of the emergency rule in the state.

President Tinubu had initially transmitted the N1.48 trillion budget proposal to the National Assembly on 22 May, requesting legislative approval to address critical development areas such as infrastructure, education, healthcare, and agriculture.

In the letter transmitting the document, the president explained that, when implemented, the budget would stimulate growth and job creation, with an estimated 6,000 jobs expected to be generated from investments in these sectors.

However, the proposal passed second reading in the Senate a week later and was subsequently referred to the ad-hoc committee for further scrutiny.

Why the increase?

Mr Ibas told the lawmakers that the increment was necessitated by significant spending commitments made in the first quarter of 2025 before the declaration of the emergency rule.

He explained that the revised budget was designed to consolidate ongoing development efforts and align with the state Rural Estate Development Plan (2017–2027), a long-term roadmap targeting infrastructure upgrade, economic inclusion, and institutional strengthening.

“The proposed 2025 budget may not be a perfect document, given the time and circumstances under which it was prepared. However, it presents an integrated framework to regularise first-quarter expenditures and ensure fiscal transparency, while responding to the urgent needs of Rivers State under the current emergency,” he said.

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Rivers Revenue under emergency rule

The administrator disclosed that as of 31 May, the state had already recorded N415 billion in revenue under the emergency rule, approximately eight per cent higher than the N383 billion initially projected.

He said N1.043 trillion was generated as revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, surpassing the N800.39 billion target.

2025 Budget breakdown

For the budget breakdown, Mr Ibas noted that N324.51 billion has been earmarked for infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and shoreline protection.

He said an additional N38.85 billion is allocated for land reclamation and erosion control to bolster environmental resilience.

He said N55 billion was allocated for the relocation and expansion of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. N50 billion for zonal hospital upgrades. N75.6 billion for education, including N30 billion for zonal secondary schools, N5.75 billion for primary school rehabilitation and N5 billion for free drug distribution across the state.

In agriculture, the budget allocates N31.4 billion for various initiatives, including counterpart funding for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Programme, and investments to boost the local production of rice, cassava, and oil palm. These interventions are projected to unlock over N45 billion in development financing and generate more than 16,000 jobs over two years.

The sum of N3 billion is allocated for establishing a youth resource centre focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, alongside N2.5 billion for women’s economic empowerment.

Also, N25 billion has been earmarked to address housing schemes and estate rehabilitation, while N117 billion is budgeted for pensions, gratuities, and employee benefits, including the implementation of the Employee Compensation Act and a group insurance scheme for workers.

The sum of N20 billion is also provided for the recapitalisation of the Rivers State Microfinance Bank to enhance credit access for SMEs, particularly for youth- and women-owned businesses.

Senate committee remarks

In his opening remarks, the Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), who chairs the ad hoc committee, described the budget as a test of Nigeria’s constitutional governance and fiscal prudence.

Mr Bamidele noted that the emergency rule is a constitutional measure, not a substitute for democratic governance.

“Emergency rule is not a replacement for democratic government in any political climate. Rather, it is an extraordinary measure designed to restore order in times of disorder, peace in place of conflict and stability instead of instability.

“And its application, as it is in Rivers State, is not by fiat as some people have insinuated, but in consistency with Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other relevant laws that guide all the interventions of the Presidency and National Assembly,” he said.

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He commended the committee for suspending personal commitments during the legislative recess to conduct oversight, screen appointees, and examine the budget line by line.

The committee pledged to conduct thorough post-appropriation monitoring to ensure that all approved funds translate into measurable development outcomes.

After its legislative action on the budget, the committee will then present its report on the floor of the Senate where the lawmakers will vote to pass or defeat it.