The political crisis rocking Rivers State has taken a new twist as the lawmakers accused the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of not presenting the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and the 2024 Appropriation Bill to the lawmakers for consideration and subsequent approval.
Hon Martin Amaewhule who is the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, made this known during the first plenary of the Assembly even as two bills which appear to weaken the governor and strengthen the Assembly scaled 1st reading on the floor of the House.
“The 2024 Appropriation Bill is yet to get to this august assembly. As it stands today, we have not received the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, we have not received the appropriation bill for 2024,” he said.
“It means the state at the moment is operating without a budget approved by this august assembly in line with the 1999 Constitution as altered.”
Read Also: I Picked Fubara As Governor To Seal Rivers Unity – Wike
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Fubara had initially presented a budget of N800 billion for 2024 to a four-man House of Assembly for approval on December 13, 2023. The governor swiftly signed the budget into law on Dec. 14, merely 24 hours after its presentation to the lawmakers.
However, as part of the conditions to end the political crisis in the state, under a peace accord facilitated by President Bola Tinubu, Fubara is expected to re-present the budget.
Amaewhule leads the 25 members of the House of Assembly who are loyal to the immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike, who now serves as the FCT Minister under President Tinubu’s administration.
Meanwhile, the governor is yet to respond to the lawmakers’ demands.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike had on Sunday revealed that Governor Fubara was fielded as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in last year’s general election to foster unity in Rivers State.
He clarified that in order to maintain peace and a feeling of unity among all the state’s regions, he and other elders made the choice.
Wike claimed that no one would have opposed him if he had chosen a politician from his home Ikwerre ethnic group to succeed him, and he had given up his personal interests in favour of the unity and advancement of the state.
The former governor made this known when he spoke at a luncheon he organised in Port Harcourt to mark the New Year.