Governor Fubara Stands Firm on Presenting 2025 Budget to Oko-Jumbo-Led Rivers Assembly

By Adejumo Adekunle –

Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara, announced plans to present the 2025 budget to the Rivers State House of Assembly under the leadership of Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo. The Governor made this statement during a solidarity visit by delegates from Etche and Omuma Local Government Areas (LGAs) at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

Governor Fubara highlighted that the Amaewhule faction is no longer recognized as members of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This follows a Court of Appeal ruling in Abuja, which invalidated the governor’s previous presentation of the 2024 budget to the Oko-Jumbo-led Assembly. The court ordered the governor to re-present the budget to the Amaewhule group.

Earlier:

The Victor Oko-Jumbo-led Rivers State House of Assembly  maintained its position that the legislative seats held by factional Speaker Martin Amaewhule and 24 other members remain vacant after their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Assembly insists that these vacant seats must be filled through by-elections to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

This comes in response to the Amaewhule-led Assembly’s decision on Tuesday, October 16 to declare the seats of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, along with three other pro-Fubara lawmakers, vacant. Their removal was based on their failure to attend legislative sessions for 152 days.