Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State is in trouble.
The Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour deadline to the Governor to present the 2025 appropriation bill.
The ultimatum was given during the faction’s plenary session on Monday.
Rivers State’s legislature has been deeply divided due to the ongoing political war between Governor Fubara and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
It is interesting to know that the Amaewhule-led faction of the assembly had remained loyal to Wike.
In January 2025, Fubara had already signed the 2025 appropriation bill into law after it was passed by the rival faction of the house led by Victor Oko-Jumbo. However, the Amaewhule group has insisted that the governor formally present the budget before them.
The demand further highlights the deepening power struggle within the state’s legislature and the broader political tension between the governor and his predecessor.
Besides, Fubara had announced that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) would conduct fresh elections for local government councils after the recent Supreme Court’s judgments on the lingering political crisis in the state.
Fubara said: “Given the outlawing of caretaker arrangements in the local government system, I hereby direct the Heads of Local Government Administration to immediately take over the administration of the 23 local government councils pending the conduct of fresh elections by RSIEC”