The House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on Rivers has given the Sole Administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-Eke Ibas (retd.), a 48-hour deadline to provide a detailed breakdown of key items in the 2025 N1.48 trillion Appropriation Bill.
The committee’s chairman, Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo), issued the ultimatum on Monday during a budget defense session in Abuja, highlighting several concerns raised after reviewing the proposed budget.
Ihonvbere emphasized the need for the submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), stating, “which is a legal document that should precede budget presentation.”
He questioned specific allocations in the budget, including N24 billion for CCTV cameras at the state government house, N30 billion for gunboats, and N23 billion for contingency reserves, demanding detailed justifications for these expenditures.
The chairman also expressed concerns over the allocation of state funds to federal projects without prior agreements with the Federal Government.
“We need additional details for those allocations. We request details of state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the last three months to enable us to know your financial flows so that we can weigh them against the deficit in the budget in terms of financing it and carrying out some of the projects,” he said.
“We also need details of transfers to local governments, essentially, how local government funds that come into the state are being managed at the moment,” Ihonvbere added.
He reiterated the importance of accountability, stating, “Those documents we have requested must reach us within 48 hours; rest assured that we are all on the same side in terms of getting rivers working again. We want to ensure that we will promote a lot of accountability and ensure that the interest of the people themselves, no matter how remote they are from the state capital, are protected.”
The lawmaker commended President Bola Tinubu for his efforts in fostering peace between the suspended Executive and Legislature in the state.
Earlier, Ibas, represented by Senior Special Assistant on Strategy and Policy, Andrew Nweke, explained that many items in the budget were inherited. He noted that the budget was designed based on a needs assessment conducted by the implementation agencies.
According to Nweke, “Rivers had a lot of peculiarities,” adding that the N30 billion allocated for gunboats was intended to support security agencies in combating insecurity on the waterways.