After over one month of delay, hope of passing the Rivers State 2026 Appropriation Bill into law came on Tuesday following a sitting by the state House of Assembly.
Recall that Governor Siminalayi Fubara had presented a budget of over N1.8tn on July 10.
The Martin Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly gave second reading to the budget during plenary on Tuesday.
A motion for the second reading was moved by the House leader, Major Jack.
Leading the debate on the floor of the House, Deputy Speaker, Dumle Maol, described the budget as ambitious and the highest ever proposed in the history of the state.
Maol, however, called on his colleagues to examine the different allocations in the budget to ensure the money is spent for the right purposes.
Other lawmakers who spoke during the debate called for the speedy passage of the budget.
The Speaker, who presided over plenary on Tuesday, said the House must also investigate non-governmental organisations and other institutions that received funding and support from the state government, after which the House adjourned sitting until September 3.
Meanwhile, a statement released by the Media Adviser to the Speaker, Martins Wachukwu, said the House, at its 36th Legislative Sitting of the Fourth Session, gave the state 2026 Appropriation Bill a second reading, after a robust debate on the major components of the Bill by members.
Commenting on the Appropriation Bill christened ‘Budget of Resilience for Growth and Development’, the Speaker, Amaewhule, recalled that about six weeks ago, Governor Siminialayi Fubara presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the House, and since then, various committees of the House have been dissecting the different components of the budget estimate, adding that the House would do detailed legislative scrutiny and oversight to ensure that funds appropriated were judiciously utilised.
Amaewhule urged the various committees of the House to ensure that all ministries, departments and agencies under the legislative competence of the House were invited for the budget defence session.
Earlier, leading the debate after the second reading of the Bill, Jack harped on the revenue framework of the estimate, stressing that with proper legislative input, the Bill as christened will engender speedy development.