Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said his administration will not present the 2025 budget to pro-Wike lawmakers because they have vacated their seats.
Fubara said his government has begun preparing the budget and will be ready soon.
The Rivers governor said the process is ongoing, despite calls by the Martin Amaewhule-led state house of assembly that he should resubmit the 2024 budget proposal.
Fubara spoke while addressing a delegation from Etche and Omuma Local Government Areas, who paid him a solidarity visit at the government house in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He told his guests to ignore the calls by the Amaewhule-led assembly, saying that they are not legitimate.
Fubara claimed that he had wanted to help the assembly members before learning about their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that Martin Amaewhule and others who announced their defection in December 2023, have already lost their seats.
“I wanted to help them. We all knew what happened when they crossed and how did they cross? Because of our God for them to make that mistake,” he stated.
“They are gone, they are gone”.
He assured that the 2025 budget will prioritise education, healthcare and agriculture, which was part of the request of the delegation whose major occupation is farming.
Fubara also gave an assurance that his administration is working with the police to resolve the herders-farmers clash in both Local Government Areas for peace and increased productivity.
