The governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, yesterday presented a N1.188 trillion 2025 budget to a three-member house of assembly led by Mr Victor Oko-Jumbo as speaker.
The other members of the assembly are the deputy speaker, Mr Adolphus Orubienimigha and the house leader, Mr Sokari Goodboy Sokari.
Christened ‘Budget of inclusive growth and development’ a projected sum of N462,254,153,418.98 was budgeted for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure and planning reserve gulped N678,088,433,692.03 and N35,688,864,931.16 respectively.
A breakdown of the recurrent expenditure showed that N169, 668,205,260.86 would be spent on personnel emolument, followed by gratuities, N60 billion, and new recruitments, N49, 137,254,525.70.
Governance, according to the document, would gulp N213, 585,509,623.75; infrastructure, N195, 074,765,456.35 and health, N97, 750,635,249.84.
Education, agriculture, public administration, social development and environment/sustainable development would get N63,275,138,622.61, N30,954,421,684.60, N21,110,915,588.89, N15,477,210,842.33 and N12,877,039,420.79 respectively.
Speaking during the presentation of the budget, the governor said: “Our mission in government is to serve the State, advance its development, and deliver sustainable improvements in the well-being of all residents.
“As servant-leaders, we are responsible for securing the State and delivering quality, effective and efficient public services, including education, healthcare, and socio-economic infrastructure to serve the best interests of our people.
“We also must create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and create jobs and sustainable economic opportunities for all, including our youths, to prosper and live a good life.”
The governor stated that the appropriation estimate was the true reflection of the reality of the state of the economy “with reasonable flexibility that allows for eminent shocks from the current challenges with the national economy and macroeconomic frameworks.”
Fubara said “no other government in recent history has delivered more capital investments and captured the confidence of our people in our ability and commitment to deliver strategic development and the building of prosperous, sustainable and inclusive progress in Rivers State than we have done.
He urged the lawmakers to join hands together “to work towards building a better and more prosperous future for our dear state.”
In his response, Oko-Jumbo praised the governor for recording over the N100 billion increase in internally-generated revenue.
He attributed the achievement to a high level of transparency and accountability in governance.
The speaker added that the success achieved was a testament to the attractive investment climate of the state.
