Senate leader explains increase in Rivers 2025 budget proposal
By Tunde Opalana
Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele has charged state governors in the country to give priority to capital component of their annual appropriation bills.
He noted that Nigerians across states of the federation can fully enjoy dividends of democracy if states expended larger part of their budgets on infrastructural and developmental projects.
Bamidele who is the chairman of the Senate Ad- hoc Committee on Oversight of Emergency Rule in Rivers State gave the charge on Thursday while the Rivers State sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (rtd) defender the state 2025 appropriation bill at the Senate building.
He said it was noted that Rivers State in the budget proposal earmarked about 70 percent to capital projects and less than 30 percent to recurrent expenditure which includes a negligible percentage to consumables.
“This demonstrates a clear commitment to infrastructure, job creation, and development,” Bamidele said. “If our budgets focus more on capital projects, our people will see and feel the dividends of democracy,” he said.
The Sole Administrator defended the N1.846 trillion estimates which is N365 billion above the N1.461 which was presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu as executive bill in May, 2025.
The committee chairman commended the state economic team that worked on the budget.
“Over the past three weeks since this bill was presented, we have had the opportunity to thoroughly review its contents. We scrutinized the details and held extensive engagements with the Rivers State Administrator and his team, including the Attorney General, the Permanent Secretary of Finance, the Director of Budget, and the Director of Planning,” Bamidele stated.
He said the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Director of Budget, the Accountant General who were in office before the emergence of the Emergency Rule have prepared about 85 percent of the estimate under the suspended governor Fubara administration.
He said the original estimates was increased by 15 percent under the Sole Administrator to cater for projects needed to be executed .
Opeyemi added that a sum of N50 billion was injected by the new administration to pay pensions and gratuities of retirees saying this was done to ensue welfare of the people that have served the state meritoriously.
“These are citizens who served their state diligently and have waited far too long for their entitlements. We see this move as both a moral obligation and a peace-building effort,” he added.
While allowing Ibas to take his leave, the committee chairman said other top members of the state economic team will stay back till Monday to work with the committee to fine-tune the estimate which the committee will present at plenary on Tuesday.
