Rivers Assembly Approves Fubara’s N1.8tn 2026 Budget: Key Details

The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed the N1.8 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill into law, paving the way for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to assent to the budget.

The bill was passed on Thursday during plenary in Port Harcourt after all 26 lawmakers supported its passage.

Following the approval, the Assembly is expected to transmit the bill to Governor Fubara for his assent. The lawmakers said the budget would cover the fiscal year ending on September 2, 2027.

Governor Fubara had presented the N1.8 trillion budget proposal to the Assembly on July 10, describing it as a blueprint designed to drive economic growth and development across Rivers State.

The appropriation bill, tagged “Budget of Resilience for Growth and Development,” underwent scrutiny by various committees of the Assembly before its eventual passage.

The House had resumed consideration of the budget on Tuesday after more than a month of delay, with lawmakers advancing it to the second-reading stage.

The House Leader, Major Jack, moved the motion for the second reading and drew attention to the revenue projections contained in the proposed budget.

During the debate, Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol described the proposal as ambitious and the largest budget ever presented in the history of Rivers State.

Maol, however, urged lawmakers to thoroughly examine the allocations to ensure that public funds would be spent strictly for the purposes for which they were appropriated.

He stressed that the size of the budget made effective legislative scrutiny and oversight necessary to ensure accountability in the management of state resources.

Other lawmakers who contributed to the debate backed the passage of the bill while calling for effective implementation of the programmes and projects contained in the budget.

Speaker Martin Amaewhule had earlier directed the various committees of the House to invite ministries, departments and agencies under their oversight for budget defence.

According to the Speaker, the exercise was necessary to enable lawmakers to scrutinise the estimates and determine whether the proposed allocations were justified.

Amaewhule also said the Assembly would examine non-governmental organisations and other institutions that received financial support from the state government as part of its oversight functions.

He noted that the governor had presented the budget about six weeks earlier, giving the committees sufficient time to examine its various components.

The Speaker reiterated that the Assembly would conduct detailed legislative scrutiny and oversight to ensure that funds appropriated in the budget were judiciously utilised.

Jack also emphasised the importance of the revenue framework, saying legislative input into the projections would help the government achieve the objectives of the budget.