Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has presented a budget of N800 billion to the four-member State House of Assembly following the defection of 27 of their colleagues in what appears to be a deepening of theatre of the absurd in the oil-rich State. One member of the Assembly had earlier passed on.

The budget was presented in front of the factional speaker of the house, Edison Ehie, who was just validated as the legitimate head of the state legislature by the Rivers State High Court yesterday. The court also barred Martin Amaewhule and Dumle Maol from presenting themselves as leaders of the house.

The presentation of the budget came after the demolition of the State House of Assembly complex, which caught fire about a month ago amidst the political loggerheads between the members of the House of Assembly who are loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nysome Wike, and the state governor.

Edison Ehie has justified the demolition of the complex as a process to renovate the building. Still, there were insinuations that action was taken to prevent the 27 lawmakers who had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress on Monday from conducting another plenary sitting while the budget presentation was ongoing.

The unprecedented defection of 27 members of the Rivers state house of assembly who are loyal to Nysome Wike has put the state in a frenzy mood, especially as the state budget for 2024 was yet to be presented. However, Ehie also declared their seats vacant in the budget sitting saying that their action was in violation of the Nigeria constitutions.

However, Governor Fubara appeared unbothered by the rollercoaster of the event in the state, instead, he proceeded to present his budget to the available lawmakers .

The Governor explained that the N800 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year was targeted at promotion of economic development and to address the challenges of socio-economic inequalities by ensuring improved access to quality and affordable education, healthcare, water, electricity, housing, social investments, gender empowerment and social inclusion.

Fubara also said that the budget constitutes a Recurrent Expenditure of 361,598,242,570.85 and a Capital Expenditure of 410,266,485,090.64, out of which promised to l build more road networks to interconnect the State, rehabilitate, equip, train and staff all dilapidated primary and secondary schools, build technical and vocational education centres, and allocate more funds to our tertiary schools to improve the quality of teaching, learning, and research.

He further stressed that “ the overall policy objectives of the 2024 budget are to promote economic development in the State through inclusive growth, the provision of critical infrastructure to support economic, business, and social activities, and the creation of an enabling environment for private sector-led industrialization, job creation and poverty reduction.

“We will strive to address the challenges of socio-economic inequalities by ensuring improved access to quality and affordable education, healthcare, water, electricity, housing, social investments, gender empowerment and social inclusion.

46. This accounts for the reasonably high allocations in the 2024 capital budget to infrastructure, education, healthcare, social development, environment, sustainable development and agriculture.

“ With these funds, we will build more road networks to interconnect the State, rehabilitate, equip, train and staff all dilapidated primary and secondary schools, build technical and vocational education centres, and allocate more funds to our tertiary schools to improve the quality of teaching, learning and research”.