Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s presentation of the 2025 Appropriations Bill to just three members of the State House of Assembly has been denounced by the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as unlawful and a violation of established governance procedures.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
APC Chairman Tony Okocha criticized the governor’s decision Thursday while speaking to reporters in Port Harcourt, calling it a breach of legislative and judicial processes. According to Naija News, Governor Fubara had previously given the Assembly’s Victor Oko-Jumbo-led group a ₦1.18 trillion budget projection for the 2025 fiscal year.
Justice James Omotosho’s January 2024 court decision, which acknowledged the Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly as the authorized entity for such proceedings, was allegedly violated by this action, according to Okocha. “That a governor with such a strong background in finance and governance would choose to circumvent the legal system is unthinkable and unimaginable,” Okocha stated. “Despite the Assembly’s thirty operational members, the budget was presented in an environment that courts have deemed illegitimate.”
During his tenure as Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2015, Okocha emphasized his involvement in numerous budget presentations. He said that the governor’s decision to circumvent the broader legislative body was disappointing and that such behavior compromises the integrity of government in a state as important as Rivers. If nothing else, he has seen the budget presentation. I would like to take use of the fact that I served as Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2015. I have therefore seen three budget presentations.
In this regard, we have 30 seats in the Assembly that are operational after losing one to death and another claiming to have resigned. On one side are three Assembly members, while on the other side are 27 Assembly members. “Isn’t it unacceptable that a state with Rivers State’s prominence and importance would submit its budget to an illegal setting?
He dismissed the session as more of a “forum of friends” than a formal legislative assembly, saying, “The Court of Appeal, in their various judgments on issues like these, have touched on these issues, and I refer them as a forum, maybe a forum of friends but certainly not legislators.” Additionally, the APC chairman attacked Governor Fubara’s leadership, saying he was encouraging division rather than unity.
He cautioned that in 2025, political tensions might rise as a result of the governor’s strategy. Okocha bemoaned, “I thought the Governor would use the new year to reach out and encourage peace, but instead he keeps stoking the fires of division.” He added that none of the 27 lawmakers who support Nyesom Wike, the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the former governor of Rivers, have defected to the APC in spite of the political unrest.
Okocha asserts that they still have a strong commitment to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They continue to be PDP members in terms of membership. Even though I lost that bid, I’m still focused on making progress rather than following the governor’s path to self-destruction,” Okocha said.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
