THE House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Rivers has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Sole Administration of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-Eke Ibas (retd.), to submit a breakdown of major items in the 2025 N1.48 trillion Appropriation Bill.
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The Chairman of the committee, Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo), issued the ultimatum on Monday at a budget defence session in Abuja.
He said that the committee had gone through the budget as presented by the sole administrator and had raised several issues.
He said that the administrator should submit the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is a legal document that should precede budget presentation.
Ihonvbere, who is the Majority Leader of the House, queried the allocation of N24 billion for CCTV cameras to be installed at the state government house, demanding the breakdown.
He also queried the allocation of N30 billion for the purchase of gunboats and N23 billion earmarked for contingency reserves, requesting justification for the sum.
The chairman said that the committee also observed and questioned the allocation of state funds to existing federal projects without agreement with the Federal Government, including refunds, among others.
“We need additional details for those allocations. We request details of state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last three months to enable us to know your financial flows so that we can weigh them against the deficit in the budget in terms of financing it and carrying out some of the projects.
“We also need details of transfers to local governments, essentially, how local government funds that come into the state are being managed at the moment,” Ihonvbere said.
“Those documents we have requested must reach us within 48 hours; rest assured that we are all on the same side in terms of getting rivers working again.
“We want to ensure that we will promote a lot of accountability and ensure that the interest of the people themselves, no matter how remote they are from the state capital, are protected,” he added.
The lawmaker commended President Bola Tinubu for his intervention that brought about peace between the suspended Executive and Legislature in the state.
Earlier, Ibas, who was represented by the Senior Special Assistant on Strategy and Policy, Andrew Nweke, explained that the administration inherited many of the items in the budget.
According to him, the budget was a reflection of the interest of Rivers people as it was designed in line with the needs assessment carried out by the implementation agencies.
Nweke said that Rivers had a lot of peculiarities, saying that the N30 billion earmarked for gunboats was to support security agencies in their fight against insecurity on the waterways.