By Olugbenga Salami
Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas on Thursday disclosed that some officials of the state government withheld critical financial records needed to capture the expenditures incurred by the state in the first quarter of 2025.
This is even as the Leader of the Senate and Chairman, Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Oversight of Emergency Rule in Rivers State, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele observed that emergency rule “is not a replacement for democratic government, but an extraordinary measure to ensure peace and security in Rivers State.”
Ibas and Bamidele spoke during the defence of the 2025 Appropriation Bill by the former before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee in Abuja.
The Administrator observed that the budget proposal before the ad-hoc committee “may not be a perfect document given the time and circumstances of its development.”
Specifically, Ibas alleged that some state officials withheld critical information required to ensure a more complete capture of those expenditures undertaken in the first quarter at the time of submission of the budget estimates.
He, however, added that the budget under consideration aligned with the strategic objectives outlined in the Rivers State Development Plan (2017-2027).
He said the budget estimates presented “an integrated framework to strengthen revenue mobilization, accelerate infrastructure delivery, enhance human capital and promote inclusive economic growth.
“The budget is crafted as a people-centered fiscal blueprint, responsive to present challenges and future development imperatives. We are optimistic that implementing the budget proposal will deliver great socioeconomic benefits for the people of Rivers State.”
In his remarks, Bamidele emphasised the resolve of the ad-hoc committee to carry out a continuous oversight on the state till emergency rule is over.
He observed that 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 further noted.
Bamidele, therefore, revealed that the Authority of the Senate also mandated the ad-hoc committee mandate “to track how allocated resources in the budget would be utilised for the benefits of people of Rivers state.”
