By Amah
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The Rivers House of Assembly has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, to re-present the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
The directive was contained in a five-point resolution by the Martin Amaewhule-led at Monday’s plenary
in Port-Harcourt, the state capital.
The Supreme Court had in an order on Feb. 28, stopped federal allocations to Rivers until the state government recognised the Amaewhule-led members of the Assembly.
The orderasked Fubara to present the N1.1 trillion appropriation bill, which already been presented and passed by presented by a rival Speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo.
Amaewhule explained that the governor should act speedily to avert a looming financial crisis in the state, following the Supreme Court’s halting its allocations from the Federation Account unless the governor complied with the ruling.
The letter to the governor partly read:
”That pursuant to the order of the Supreme Court in suit no: SC/CV/1174/2024 for the stoppage of statutory federal allocations to the Rivers government and halting spending from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the state, pending the passage of an Appropriation Bill:
”You are requested to present the 2025 appropriation bill to the House in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“That the House expects you to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill within 48 hours.”
The House said it was ready to begin amendment procedures for the process the Rivers Local Government Law and the State Independent Electoral Commission law to allow for the conduct of fresh local government elections.
It further drew the governor’s attention to the 2023 amendment to the constitution, which prohibited Heads of Local Government Administrators (HLGAs) or individuals other than democratically elected persons to head local government administration.
Fubara had ordered HLGAs in the 23 local government areas to immediately assume office as administrators of the local councils, in response to the nullification of the local government election by the Supreme Court.
