In a historic federal intervention, the Senate on Wednesday approved the N1.485 trillion 2025 budget for Rivers State, following the political suspension of the state’s House of Assembly.
The approval came after the third reading of the Rivers State 2025 Appropriation Bill and the review of a report by the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Rivers State, during a Committee of Supply session.
This legislative action follows a formal request by President Bola Tinubu, who submitted the budget to the National Assembly due to the state’s legislative vacuum caused by a deepening political crisis.
President Tinubu’s letter, addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, requested urgent legislative consideration of the appropriation bill. The situation stems from the suspension of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the Supreme Court’s nullification of an earlier budget submitted by suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The newly approved budget authorizes the release of N1,485,662,592,442 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Rivers State for the 2025 fiscal year, ending December 31, 2025.
This development marks a rare instance of federal legislative oversight over a state’s fiscal planning, emphasizing Abuja’s commitment to ensuring continuity of governance amidst constitutional challenges at the subnational level.
