President Bola Tinubu has formally submitted a N1.481 trillion Rivers State budget proposal to the National Assembly for consideration and passage, following the Supreme Court's nullification of the state's 2025 budget.

The President's action comes as Rivers State remains under emergency rule, which he declared on March 18, 2025. The emergency declaration included the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for a period of six months.

In their place, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) was appointed as Sole Administrator, while the National Assembly assumed the legislative functions of the State Assembly in accordance with constitutional provisions.

Budget Breakdown

In his letter to the National Assembly, President Tinubu provided a breakdown of the proposed budget allocations:

- N324 billion for infrastructure development

- N166 billion for healthcare services

- N75.6 billion for education

- N31.4 billion for agriculture

The President noted that the agricultural sector investments are expected to generate approximately 6,000 jobs in the state.

Tinubu urged lawmakers to expedite the passage of the budget "for the good of Rivers State," emphasizing the importance of maintaining governmental functions despite the ongoing political crisis.

The Rivers State crisis began earlier this year, culminating in the emergency rule declaration that effectively transferred governance to federal authorities. The Supreme Court's nullification of the state's original 2025 budget necessitated this unusual step of having the federal government present a state budget to the National Assembly.

Political observers are closely monitoring developments in Rivers State, as this represents an unprecedented situation in Nigeria's democratic history where a state's budget is being processed at the federal level due to emergency rule.