Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, says his administration has begun preparing the 2025 budget, which will be presented soon.
He said the process is ongoing despite calls by the Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly that he should resubmit the 2024 budget proposal.
Governor Fubara stated this while addressing a delegation from Etche and Omuma Local Government Areas who paid him a solidarity visit at the government house in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He told the people to ignore the calls by the Amaewhule group, saying that they are not legitimate.
Governor Fubara said he had wanted to help the Assembly members before he learnt about their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.
Though he did not explain how he intended to help the lawmakers, it could perhaps be through the implementation of the political solutions outlined in the Presidental Peace Pact, which he appears to have jettisoned.
He insisted that Martin Amaewhule and others who announced their defection in December 2023 have already lost their seats.
“I wanted to help them. We all knew what happened when they crossed and how did they cross? Because of our God for them to make that mistake”.
The Governor explained that the seats of the defected lawmakers were declared vacant in December 2023, by the then legally recognized Speaker, Edison Ehie, who now serves as his Chief of Staff.
He assured that the 2025 budget will prioritise education, healthcare and agriculture, which was part of the request of the delegation whose major occupation is farming.
Governor Fubara also gave an assurance that his administration is working with the police to resolve the herders-farmers clash in both Local Government Areas for peace and increased productivity
