Tension in Rivers as Seven-day Budget Ultimatum Reaches Deadline

Political uncertainty has returned to Rivers State as the deadline approaches for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to resubmit the 2024 budget, following a seven-day ultimatum issued by the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly.

This ultimatum, set to expire this week, stems from a motion by Dumle Maol, Deputy Speaker of the Pro-Nyesom Wike Assembly, calling for compliance with a court ruling that affirmed the assembly’s current membership and leadership.

The demand for budget resubmission aligns with a presidential peace pact from December aimed at quelling the state’s ongoing political crisis.

Despite this, Governor Fubara, who had previously submitted the ₦800 billion budget to an Edison Ehie-led Assembly, announced plans for the 2025 budget, signalling a potential dismissal of the assembly’s demands.

The ongoing crisis in Rivers began with a series of dramatic events, including a fire at the State House of Assembly and an attempted impeachment of Governor Fubara.

The faction of the Assembly is now led by Victor Oko-Jumbo.

The budget, which was passed and signed into law, is still being implemented, suggesting that the peace agreement has faltered.

Meanwhile,  a pro-Fubara politician from the same community as Amaewhule, Chijioke Ihunwo, has dismissed the 7-day ultimatum on the governor as laughable.

Ihunwo, who was appointed by the governor as the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, urged Amaewhule to accept his fate as a former assembly member, after defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.