Ibas defends N1.4 trillion Rivers budget, laments officials’ concealment of critical financial records to avoid scrutiny

Sole Administrator of Rivers State Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe has defended the 2025 State budget to the tune of N1.4 trillion before the Senate’s ad-hoc Committee on Emergency Rule.

He lamented on Thursday 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.

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Reacting to Ibas expression of his challenges, the Senate Leader who also doubles as Chairman of Senate’s Ad-hoc Committee on Emergency rule, Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi said the state of emergency was not a replacement for democratic government, insisting that they would continue to track how allocated resources are utilised.

Bamidele said: “The emergency rule “is not a replacement for democratic government, but an extraordinary measure to ensure peace and security in Rivers State.”

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CAPITAL POST recalled that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had declared emergency rule in Rivers State, citing the protracted political crisis in the state and its consequences on the national economy and security.

In the aftermath, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio constituted an 18-member Committee on Oversight of Emergency Rule in Rivers State under the chairmanship of Senator Bamidele.

The members of the ad-hoc committee comprise Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Tahir Munguno; Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Peter Nwebonyi; Chairman, Senate Committee on Land Transport, Senator Adamu Aliero; Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa; Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, among others.

Earlier Ibas told the Committee that the circumstances with which the documents were put together may not make the Rivers 2025 Appropriation Bill a perfect one.

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