Rivers Assembly passes Wike’s N104bn 2015 supplementary bill into law

Governor Nyesom Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

In less than 21 days to complete this year’s cycle, the Rivers State House of Assembly has passed N104 billion of the 2015 supplementary budget for the state government into law.

The Leader of the Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, who presented the bill, said it was aimed at ensuring that Governor Nyesom Wike has the legal plank to spend funds to execute more projects in the state.

The Speaker, Ikunyi Igbani, passed the bill after a unanimous vote by the lawmakers.

The lawmakers also stood-down some sections of the House Standing order (Order 50) to allow express passage of the appropriation bill which lasted less than 45 minutes.

The supplementary budget is N104,287,285,108.

The Speaker, who said the supplementary budget will be for capital expenditure, stated that it is imperative for the legislature to play its role in sustaining development in the state.

Related News

“Governance is not about paying salaries alone. It is also about bringing meaningful development and taking into account the environment we live in.

“This supplementary budget of N104 billion is meant to help the government achieve this,” Igbani said.

The breakdown of the supplementary budget, showed that the state Judiciary has a budget of a little over N1 billion while the Legislature has N2 billion. Ministry of Housing has N10 billion while over N40 billion was allocated to the Ministry of Works.

Earlier, the state House of Assembly approved Wike’s request to appoint five new special advisers.

The Assembly also screened and confirmed Odame Iyenebari Theophilus and Austine Tam George as Commissioner in the state Executive council.

A total of 22 commissioner-nominees have been so far screened into the state Executive Council.

Igbani gave the approval after the Leader of the House moved a motion on behalf of the other members of the Assembly to grant the request of the governor.

Load more