By Haruna Salami
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas Thursday defended the N1. 846 trillion 2025 budget before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Oversight of Emergency Rule in Rivers State.
The Sole Administrator explained that the original budget framework, 85% of which was inherited from the previous administration was revised upward by about 15% to address three critical areas:
Clearing N50 billion in pension and gratuity arrears, funding emergency security and peacebuilding initiatives, and legally integrating first-quarter expenditures made before emergency rule was declared.
These additions brought the total projected expenditure to N1.846 trillion, compared to N793.5 billion in 2024.
The Administrator added that the budget “isn’t just about roads and bridges, it’s about people who have served this state and are now aging without their entitlements. It’s about farmers who need safe roads. It’s about young people who need jobs”.
The budget proposal equally takes care of the eventual restoration of constitutional order, retaining legal provisions for the offices and functions of suspended political actors.
A breakdown of the budget include N1.072 trillion (72.4%) is allocated for capital projects—a sharp contrast to most state budgets where recurrent expenditure dominates. Only N408.4 billion (27.5%) is reserved for recurrent spending, with a negligible portion going to overheads.
Key sectorial allocations include:
N324.5 billion for roads, bridges, and transport infrastructure
N55 billion for upgrading the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital
N30 billion for secondary schools and N5.75 billion for primary education rehabilitation
N38.85 billion for shoreline protection and erosion control
N10 billion to boost food production and agriculture
N50 billion to offset pension liabilities
N20 billion to recapitalize the Rivers Microfinance Bank for MSMEs.
One interesting part of budget is the plan to spend N3 billion on a youth innovation centre and N2.5 billion on women’s economic empowerment.
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