Rivers unending crisis: Fireworks over right Assembly faction to receive Rivers governor’s budget

The Rivers State N1.188trn 2025 budget has been presented and signed by Gov Sim Fubara but the storm over it has seems to only begin.

The storm seems to boil in three political camps: Gov Fubara’s camp made up of persons from APC, PDP, APP, and other parties; the APC made up of FCT Minister’s supporters, some APC and some PDP members; faction of the APC loyal to Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and others from some other parties.

The APC camp loyal to Wike and led by Tony Okocha, has raised a strong condemnation that sounds like threat over who should receive the budget.

The faction said the presentation of the 2025 Appropriation bill to three members of the Rivers State House of Assembly (RSHA) by Gov Fubara is illegal, unthinkable and a violation of the law.

The faction, which sees itself as the main opposition party in the state, also said the action is against established governance protocols.

The chairman who stated this while briefing newsmen at his residence in Port Harcourt on Thursday said the action of the governor was not acceptable in law or in decency.

Th governor had on December 30, 2024, presented the N1.188 trn budget for the 2025 fiscal year to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly loyal to him for consideration and approval, but Okocha insisted that the governor’s action was a blatant disregard for judicial pronouncements.

Okocha explained that the January 2024 ruling by the justice, James Omotosho, which mandated that budgets should be presented to the Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly, is duly recognized by law.

Okocha said, “It is unimaginable and unthinkable that a governor with such a rich background in Finance and Governance would choose to sidestep legal processes.

“The Assembly has 30 functional members, yet the budget was presented in a setting that courts have described as illegitimate.

“At least, he has seen the presentation of the budget, and I want to avail you people of the opportunity of the fact that I was Chief of Staff and that spanned through 2012-2015. What it means is that I have witnessed three budget presentations.

“In this sense, an Assembly of 32, we lost one to death, one claimed to have resigned, and then we have 30 functional Assembly seats. 27 of the Assembly members are on this side, and three members of the Assembly are on this side.

Read also: Fubara presents N1.188 trn 2025 budget, N388bn higher than 2024 budget

“Is it not anathema that a budget of a state as prominent and as important as Rivers State will be presented to an illegal setting?

“The Court of Appeal, in their various judgments on issues like these, have touched on these issues, and I refer to them as a forum, maybe a forum of friends but certainly not legislators.”

He went on to condemn the governor’s leadership style, labelling him as divisive and confrontational.

Okocha further said following the governor’s continued violations of court processes, he foresees escalating political tensions in 2025, accusing him of stoking hostilities rather than fostering reconciliation.

Each time the Okocha-led APC warns of violence that may be caused by Fubara’s action, there is usually a follow up of spate of violent actions.

Okocha said, “I expected the governor to use the new year to extend an olive branch and promote peace, but instead, he continues to fuel the flames of division.”

Okocha, while claiming that the 27 lawmakers did not effectively defect, noted that none of the said lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (Wike), registered with the APC and party, reaffirming their membership and allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“As far as their membership is concerned, they remain PDP members. I lost that bid, but my focus remains on progress, not on joining the governor’s journey to self-destruction,” the APC chairman added.

APC vs APC:

Countering the Wike-backed APC camp in the state, Darlington Nwauju, the publicity secretary of the APC faction loyal to former governor, Amaechi, stated that the Okocha-led faction of the APC has no moral right to accuse anybody, let alone Gov Fubara, of disobeying court order.

Nwauju said: “There is a 33-page judgment delivered by Justice Sika Aprioku on December 20, 2024 with Suit No PHC/3552/CS/2024 which rejected an application by some incorporated trustees of an NGO demanding that the Governor re-presents the 2024 Budget to the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly.

“By the construction of that very judgment, the Governor is not obligated to make presentations to persons who are amorphous as far as the law is concerned having voluntarily vacated their seats at the Assembly.

“The position of the Supreme Court on the issue of switching parties where there is no division in that party, is very, very clear and self-executory.”

Finally, the publicity secretary of the faction added, “The man saying Gov Fubara is disobeying the law is himself the chief culprit of what he is talking about. He should first purge himself of contempt of subsisting court orders which sacked him and disrobes him of any cloak of recognition. Hence, he has no locus speaking for or on behalf of APC in Rivers State.”

He said the court sacked Okocha and his caretaker committee. Another court shut down their proposed congresses, and when they insisted and conducted it, the court nullified the executive council that emerged as a result. “A man who led his faction to serially disobey these court orders apart from the court order stopping the conduct of the PDP state congress that delivered the party into Wike’s hands against Gov Fubara, such a man cannot turn round to seek equity in court or to condemn anybody that emulated him to disobey court orders”.

There is only one House of Assembly in Rivers – Gov Fubara

Justifying the presentation of the budget to the three-man faction of the Assembly, Gov Fubara said the only House of Assembly that exists under the law is the one led as speaker by Victor Oko-Jumbo.

The governor, after signing, said the records needed to be put straight to address insinuations in some quarters about a possible split in the state’s parliament, saying there was no such division.

Gov Fubara stated: “We have only one Rivers State House of Assembly, and that Assembly is headed by Rt Hon Victor Oko-Jumbo”.

He described those who abdicated their mandate in the House as a group of friends who he said had embarked on ‘Sinbad journey’, and half-way into the journey, they decided to return. He said; “It is too late. We are not going back. As far as I am concerned, we have moved on.”

Gov Fubara said that as it stood, the focus of his administration was to do everything possible in defending the interest of Rivers State and the integrity of governance, and assured that with the 2025 budget now signed, every projection made in it will be addressed to deliver hope and good life to all residents in the State.