Tinubu sends N1.48trn Rivers 2025 budget to Senate, seeks expeditious passage

By Haruna Salami

President Bola Tinubu has transmitted N1.48 trillion 2025 budget proposal for the Rivers State Government to the National Assembly for consideration and passage during plenary on Thursday.

The President said the budget proposal became necessary because of the nullification of the 2025 budget of the state by the Supreme Court and the fact that the state is currently under emergency rule.

The President said that N324bn of the amount will be expended on infrastructure, N166bn on health, N75.6bn on education and N31.4bn on agriculture.

He added that by the provisions of the budget; agriculture is expected to generate about 6,000 jobs and appealed to the parliament to urgently pass the budget for the good of the state and its people.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio read the letter during Wednesday’s plenary, signaling a rare federal intervention in a subnational budget process.

President Tinubu, in the letter, reminded the Senate that Rivers State has been under emergency rule since March 2025, a measure that was officially proclaimed and gazetted due to escalating political instability.

“Regulation 4, subsection 2(f) of the Emergency Rule 2025 mandates that expenditure from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Rivers State must be authorized by the National Assembly in the absence of the State Assembly,” the President stated.

“This appropriation is critical to sustaining governance and essential services in the state under the current circumstances. I urge the Senate to give it expedited and favourable consideration”, Tinubu’s letter concluded.

Akpabio subsequently referred the bill to the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Emergency Rule in Rivers State for further legislative action and report back as soon as possible.