Ibas Rejects Rivers Assembly Spending Probe
The immediate past administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has rejected moves by the Rivers State House of Assembly to investigate government expenditure during his six-month tenure.
Ibas completed his role as administrator on September 17, marking the end of the emergency rule imposed on the state. His exit coincided with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to reinstate Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the House of Assembly, who were asked to resume duties the previous Thursday.
During its first sitting after the emergency rule, the House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, resolved to examine spending during the period, including withdrawals from the consolidated revenue fund and the award of contracts.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and documents from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Rivers State received at least N254.37 billion between March and August 2025 while under Ibas’s administration.
Breakdowns showed the state got N44.66 billion in March, N44.42 billion in April, N42.80 billion in May, and N42.30 billion in June. Further records indicated N38.42 billion in July and N41.76 billion in August, bringing the total for the six months to N254.37 billion, with a monthly average of N42.40 billion. Projections suggest that September inflows could raise the figure to about N297 billion in seven months.
The data also revealed Rivers’ heavy dependence on oil derivation, which contributed N133.24 billion, or about 52.4 percent of its FAAC allocations within the six-month period. Monthly receipts from derivation included N18.24 billion in March, N21.02 billion in April, N14.56 billion in May, N19.76 billion in June, N17.62 billion in July, and N16.58 billion in August.
Other income sources such as the Electronic Money Transfer Levy, environmental funds, and exchange gains boosted the state’s net receipts despite various deductions.
However, the government has not released its 2025 Budget Implementation Report, a statutory document that tracks revenue, internally generated funds, and expenditure patterns. Civil society groups and residents say the lack of transparency has left them unable to determine how the allocations were applied to capital projects, salaries, pensions, and other recurrent expenses.
