Rivers State could be on the brink of a major political crisis, according to Tony Okocha, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Okocha has accused Governor Sim Fubara of fueling division within the political landscape by presenting the 2025 budget to a faction of the state House of Assembly.
The controversy centers around the N1.1 trillion budget that Governor Fubara presented in December to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led faction of the Assembly.
This group, consisting of only four members, received and approved the governor’s appropriation bill. According to Okocha, this act ignored both judicial rulings and the principles of democratic governance.
Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, he said: “I expected the governor to use the new year to extend an olive branch and promote peace, but instead, he continues to fuel the flames of division.
“It is unimaginable and unthinkable that a governor with such a rich background in finance and governance would choose to sidestep legal processes.
“The Assembly has 30 functional members, yet the budget was presented in a setting that courts have described as illegitimate.
“At least, he has seen the presentation of the budget, and I want to avail you people of the opportunity of the fact that I was Chief of Staff and that spanned through 2012-2015. What it means is that I have witnessed three budget presentations.
“In this sense, an Assembly of 32, we lost one to death, one claimed to have resigned, and then we have 30 functional Assembly seats. 27 of the Assembly members are on this side, and three members of the Assembly are on this side.
“Is it not anathema that a budget of a state as prominent and as important as Rivers State will be presented to an illegal setting?
“The Court of Appeal, in their various judgements on issues like these, have touched on these issues, and I refer to them as a forum, maybe a forum of friends but certainly not legislators.”
