The House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Special Duties has queried several allocations in the ₦1.48 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill presented by the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd).
The committee chairman and House Majority Leader, Rep. Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo), raised the concerns during a budget defence session held in Abuja on Monday. He pointed to what he described as questionable budgetary allocations and a lack of adherence to statutory budgetary procedures.
Among the contentious figures were ₦24 billion proposed for the installation of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) at the Government House, ₦30 billion for gunboats, and ₦23 billion allocated as contingency reserves.
“We need additional details for those allocations,” Ihonvbere said, urging the administrator to provide justifications for the substantial sums.
The lawmaker also questioned the absence of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which is a legally required instrument under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, guiding government spending over a three-year period.
He further expressed concern over the use of state funds for federal projects without any formal agreement for reimbursement from the federal government.
According to the appropriation bill breakdown earlier passed by the Senate, ₦1.07 trillion is earmarked for capital expenditure, ₦287.37 billion for recurrent spending, and ₦120.8 billion for debt servicing.
The bill was passed under the emergency administration following the invocation of Section 305 of the Constitution by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which placed the state under federal control in March 2025.
During the session, Vice Admiral Ibas explained that about 85 per cent of the budgetary provisions were inherited from the previous administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Only 15 per cent of the document, he said, reflected new items introduced by the current administration.
Despite the explanation, members of the committee insisted on a detailed breakdown of the proposals and called for transparency in the implementation of the budget, especially considering the scale of allocations and the sensitive nature of the emergency governance in Rivers State.
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