…Additional Funds for Security, Pension, Gratuity Arrears

…. Total  Budget Rises Now N1.846trn

By David Torough, Abuja

The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibak has presented a revised budget of N1.

846 trillion to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Oversight, an increase of N360 billion from the initial estimate of N1. 486 trillion submitted by President Bola Tinubu.

The revised budget includes allocations for security, pension and gratuity arrears, and capital projects to support economic growth and entrepreneurship.

Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele defended the increase, citing the need to address the state’s pressing issues.

Bamidele highlighted the allocation of N50 billion for pension and gratuity arrears, saying it’s a moral obligation and a peace-building effort.

“One of the standout components of the revised budget is the allocation of N50 billion for the payment of outstanding pensions and gratuities.

“These are citizens who served their state diligently and have waited far too long for their entitlements. We see this move as both a moral obligation and a peace-building effort.

“Another major point of commendation is the budget’s structure. More than 70% of the total appropriation is earmarked for capital expenditure, while less than 30% is designated for recurrent expenses, including overhead costs.

“This demonstrates a clear commitment to infrastructure, job creation, and development.

“If our budgets focus more on capital projects, our people will see and feel the dividends of democracy.”

The Senate Leader of the Senate assured that the Ad-hoc Committee would ensure faithful implementation of the Rivers State Budget, emphasising the importance of transparency and accountability in public fund utilisation.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Senate Leader also assured that the adhoc Committee would ensure faithful implementation of the Rivers State Budget.

“As representatives of the Nigerian people, we are not only tasked with evaluating figures, but also with ensuring the faithful implementation of the budget.

“It is our mandate to track how allocated resources are utilised – project by project, sector by sector – to guarantee transparency and uphold accountability in the use of public funds.

“This means that our engagement today on the Rivers State 2025 Appropriation Bill does not end here.

“We shall, in the coming months, assess the performance of the budget by closely monitoring disbursements, execution timelines, and delivery outcomes.

“Our objective is to ensure that approved funds translate into meaningful development and that deviations or delays are addressed promptly in the overriding public interest.

“Beyond the numbers, we must also evaluate the real-world impact of this budget on the everyday lives of the people of Rivers State. In times of political uncertainty and emergency governance, government actions must not only be lawful, but also people-centred. We must ask: will this budget deliver improved roads, healthcare, education, safety, and livelihoods for the people?

 “This, ultim

By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

The National Leader and candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo has described President Bola Tinubu as a maverick in politics but a total failure in governance.

He noted that Tinubu could easily A1 in politics but when it comes to governance, he would always score F9.

He stressed that the only problem the president has is how to convert his A1 in politics into good governance in form of substantive legacies.

“That is a problem because the A1 in politics only means that he knows the political class very well; he knows what moves and motivates them as well as how to recruit them.

He sometimes retrenches them, retires them and reengages them because he knows what they want.

“But I wish he knows what Nigerian people want, which are basic services, economic stability and security. If he cannot save lives in Benue, Plateau and many parts of the country, then he has failed,” he stressed.

He said President Tinubu ought to have known that politics ended the moment he got the power and ascended the presidency and that he should have provided the needed governance and managed the diversity of Nigeria well.

He lamented that lacked the administrative capacity to offer governance to Nigerians including poor understanding of how to manage the country economy. He, however, added that the only the only skill he has in the management of the economy “is the economization of truth, which basically is what they do rather than manage the economy.”

“What we want to do differently in the SDP is to focus the entire politics on the welfare of the people. There will be less controversy if we address the issue of our people going hungry, their health, housing, education problem and others,” he added.

He also lambasted politicians who are defecting from the opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing them as the government’s tools to dampen the spirit of the opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.

He noted that many of them did not join opposition by choice, stressing that those who joined by choice can never defect to the ruling party without tangible progress on ground.

He said: “The so-called defections are sometimes coming out of the closet of people claiming to be in opposition because they have been compulsorily retired into opposition, not by choice. When you choose to be in opposition by choice, you have access to the ruling party but you just don’t agree with them, and the reasons for that are well articulated, which has to do with the interest of the Nigerian people. There is zero risk of you defecting unless those fundamental disagreements or problems have now been eliminated.

“Everybody in Nigeria will know that poverty is no longer there, that insecurity is no longer there and corruption and poor ethics that have dominated our politics have now changed. Anything other than that, you will find out that people who miss the bus of the ruling party tend to wait at the bus stop of opposition until the next bus comes and then they hop along. There is nothing new.

“Many of the defectors are being primed and kept waiting for the dramatisation of resurgence by the ruling party. They just keep them somewhere so that when the time comes, they will use them to demoralise the opposition.”

By Mike Odiakose, Abuja

Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its 2023 presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo has expressed disappointment with the way and manner President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue State, over the recent killings by Fulani militant group, was trivialized and reduced to politics.

Insisting that Nigerians must be serious with the way they tackle important issues, Adebayo condemned Tinubu’s Benue town hall meeting during the visit as sickening.

Writing in his official X handle, he said: “Our entire governmental doctrine and leadership mentality in Nigeria needs a thorough revamp and our people desperately need mental liberation.

“How could the emphasis be on the 2027 election and little on the sadistic massacre?”
Adebayo took exception to President Tinubu’s emphasis on his sacrifice to visit Benue instead of addressing the leadership lapses that led to such wanton destruction of innocent lives.
He said: “The bulk of the speech is on the sacrifice @officialABAT had to make to promptly respond to the killing, instead of critical questions about failure of leadership and breach of the constitutional duty to secure the citizens.

“No observer would believe that the people of this great state have just suffered a dastardly and gruesome massacre merely a few days ago”, he said.

The SDP Leader also condemned the traditional rulers in the affected area for their insensitivity to the plight of their subjects.

He noted that rather than grieve over the unfortunate incident; the traditional rulers were busy endorsing Tinubu for a second term in 2027.

“That the traditional rulers felt that they had to pledge their ‘massive support’ for @officialABAT in the 2027 election on this sombre occasion is both pathetic and undignified. I could not believe my eyes and ears.

“The political elite’s deterioration seems irredeemable. A new direction is inevitable; May God help Nigeria. We need to bid farewell to poverty and insecurity in Nigeria,” he stated.