Governor Siminalayi Fubara has signed the Rivers State 2024 Appropriation Bill of N800bn into law.
Fubara, who presented the bill on Wednesday, December 13, to a four-member House of Assembly led by Speaker Edison Ehie, was said to have signed the budget on Thursday at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Recall that Fubara, on Wednesday, presented the 2024 budget proposal of 800 billion naira to the State House of Assembly led by Edison Ehie.
The presentation was done at the Government House in Port Harcourt, following the demolition of the Assembly Complex by the state government and in line with a State High Court order that restrained Ehie’s contender, Martins Amaewhule, from using the Assembly Complex.
Fubara said the estimate was aimed at promoting economic development through inclusive growth and addressing socio-economic inequality in the state.
The Ehie-group had, before the arrival of the governor, met and declared vacant the seats of the 27 members that defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ehie and Martins Amaewhule have been embroiled in a speakership tussle in court.
Present at the budget presentation on Wednesday are Ehie and four members of the House loyal to him. None of the members who recently moved from the PDP to the APC were in attendance.
Also present were a former Speaker of the House, Adams Dabotorudinma; and a former Deputy Speaker, Marshal Uwom.
The complex was demolished amid tight security about two months after a fire gutted the complex.
The demolition exercise started at about 6:45 a.m. with the state governor leading a convoy consisting of about 10 bulldozers carried on heavy-duty flatbed trucks into the Assembly premises.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government said the renovation of the State House of Assembly Complex was carried out on the advice of consultants, who warned that the building is no longer habitable.
