The Rivers State House of Assembly has disagreed with the claims by the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, that he was blocked from entering the House to re-present his 2025 Appropriation Bill.

The House said it never received any official communication from the governor indicating his interest to bring his appropriation bill to the floor of the House.

Spokesperson of the House and Chairman, House Committee on Information, Enemi George, described the claims of the governor as a mere comedy skit scripted to paint the House in bad light.

George recalled that on March 3, the House of Assembly wrote to the governor requesting him to bring his 2025 appropriation bill to the lawmakers following the judgement of the Supreme Court.

He said: “We were the ones, who immediately after that judgement appealed to the governor to bring his appropriation bill. We acted immediately because we have the interest of the state at heart and didn’t want Rivers people to suffer any harm.

“Despite withholding our entitlements for over a year and demolishing our chambers, we still wanted him to hasten up the presentation in the interest of the progress of Rivers.

“We indicated our intentions in that letter and even gave him a timeframe because of the urgency of the matter. To regularise his appointments, we also urged him during our subsequent sitting to submit the names of his nominees for the positions of commissioners and some boards’ membership for screening and confirmation.

“But, the governor rebuffed our pleas. We sent employees of the Assembly to deliver these resolutions to him. But, as usual, they turned them down at the gate and even brutalized them. We resorted to engaging the services of a courier company.

“But, he still did not heed our call forgetting that there are essential services like hospitals, schools and others to be funded. Our intention was to finish everything about the budget on March 15, so that we could send necessary information and documents to relevant agencies of the government to allow the release of Rivers allocations at the end of March. But, with what he is doing, we don’t know what he wants to achieve.

“How can he turn around to claim that we blocked him from re-presenting his budget? This is the height of insincerity. We even need the budget to be passed because the governor has been owing us our entitlements for more than a year and without the budget, we can’t get our entitlements.

“The governor and his team simply and deliberately acted Wednesday’s drama with a singular motive to tarnish the image of the Assembly. The governor is simply playing to the gallery to whip up unnecessary sentiments. But, it has backfired because the truth has come out”.

Besides, George insisted that the letter the governor claimed that he sent to the Speaker never got to him, adding that it was after the Wednesday’s sitting that the lawmakers saw the letter flying on social media.

He said: “But, even the letter trending on social media was dated March 11. Does it mean that the governor purportedly sent a letter on Tuesday God knows when, and immediately mobilised to the Assembly Quarters on Wednesday morning, claiming he came to present his budget?

“That alone vitiates the claimed purpose. It is procedurally trite that after writing to the Assembly, the governor ought to wait for the letter to be acknowledged by the lawmakers, who will then invite him to appear before them and make his presentation. Governor Fubara ought to know this if he is sincere.

“But, all we know is that this Assembly will continue to uphold the rule of law and will remain committed to promoting the interest of Rivers State. We urge him to do the needful so that Rivers people can breathe. He is toying with the lives and livelihood of Rivers people.

Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, was on Wednesday prevented from accessing the Rivers house of assembly quarters in Port Harcourt to present the 2025 budget.

When Fubara and his entourage arrived at the entrance of the building, the gates were locked.

The assembly quarters serve as the chamber for the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers assembly, which is loyal to Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT).

Fubara and Wike have been locked in a supremacy battle over control of the political structure of the state.

The rift led to the polarisation of the Rivers assembly.

In December 2024, the governor presented a 2025 budget proposal of N1.1 trillion to the Victor Oko-Jumbo-led state house of assembly which is loyal to him.

Speaking to journalists at the entrance of the locked assembly quarters, Fubara said he had come to the quarters in compliance with the supreme court judgment on the Rivers political crisis.

“I am here this morning with a few members of the state executive council to comply with the supreme court judgment,” the governor said.

“Before my arrival, I had made several attempts by phone calls to reach the speaker (Martin Amaewhule) and other members.

“I also wrote a letter personally, which was transmitted to the honourable speaker for this particular invitation.

“It is unfortunate that by the gate, you can see that the place is completely sealed and there is no sign that anything is going to happen today. The reason why we are doing this is the interest of our people — which is the most important thing.

“There is nothing to worry about. Maybe they are working on their letter. I expect to hear from them maybe after now.”

Operatives from the Corporate Headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have arrested former Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel over an alleged N700 billion fraud.

It was gathered that Emmanuel was arrested after honouring an EFCC invitation on Tuesday to respond to charges of money laundering, diversion of funds, and theft, as alleged by the Network Against Corruption and Trafficking, NCAT.

He arrived at the EFCC office at around 12:30 pm.

Investigations by the commission have reportedly uncovered the withdrawal of N31 billion in cash from a single account named Office of the Governor. The money was allegedly withdrawn in cash progressively between 2019 and 2023.

The petitioner alleged that Emmanuel received N3 trillion from the Federation Account over eight years but left a debt profile of N500 billion and unpaid ongoing projects worth N300 billion. He is also accused of failing to account for N700 billion.

EFCC’s investigations are ongoing, with Emmanuel currently being interrogated by operatives.

The EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, was unavailable for comment when contacted.