Rivers subsurface financials

For most of this year, figures concerning Rivers State financial seem to be available only in underground sources.

When Sim Fubara proceeded on suspension in March this year and a sole administrator emerged, questions were raised about what the governor left behind or what the sole administrator met in the treasury. None of the two authorities cared to disclose, except underground sources that mentioned N300bn at first and later N266bn.

The matter remained unknown or unconfirmed until Fubara returned with a new budget approved offshore. The questions were raised again but Ibok Ete Ibas (the retired real admiral) neither disclosed what he was leaving behind nor did Fubara say what he met upon return on October 18, 2025.

Again, the people swallowed hard and hoped for the best. Now, from a third source, the state’s House of Assembly that fought Fubara hard in the star-wars, told the world that the sole administrator left behind N600bn but that nobody knows why Gov Fubara was not using it to rescue education sector. The remark is raising fresh tensions like the Fubara-Nyesom Wike wars were returning.

Now, a source is challenging the N600bn figure, wondering how such an amount could be true. Solomon Lenu, a social media influencer, has taken up the figure and the challenge, saying the sole administrator couldn’t have left N600bn in the treasury when he didn’t receive such amount in his six months sojourn in Rivers State considering the recurrent expenditure framework of the state.

Lenu gave a breakdown of the financial profile of the state within the six months’ period to see if the state earned as much as N600bn. He gave March as N44.6bn, April N44.6bn, May N42.7bn, June N42.3bn, July N39bn, and August N41.6bn.

Read also: Fubara hungry for independent judiciary, vows full support for effective judicial system in Rivers

For the LGAs in the state, he gave them as March N18.5bn, April N19.4bn, May N16bn, June N18.8bn, July N18.8bn, and August N19.2bn; totaling N254.6bn and N110.7bn making N365.3bn. He added the withheld LGA allocations for January and February 2025 released to the Solad as N36.6bn now totaling N401.9bn. He stated deductions within the period to be N147.3Bn and stated the balance to the treasury as N254.6bn as what Ibas actually got.

He worked the state’s IGR as averaging N27bn based on what Fubara had once said he was getting, totaling N162bn within the Ibas period. It would mean Ibas got N416.6bn from both sources (FAAC and IGR).

Expenditures:

The Revised & Approved Rivers State Budget for 2025 by the Senate was N1.485trillion. with a recurrent expenditure of N287.38billion.

He calculated recurrent expenditure to be N143.69bn for recurrent expenditure plus N60bn (debt servicing) totaling N203.69bn. He deposed that total income received under Ibas N416.6B excluding LGA allocations, while total expenditure would be 203.69B. He stated thus; “Available funds after state of emergency without frivolities should be N416.6B minus N203.69B = N212.91billion. This figure is assuming there were no frivolous financial actions by the manager of the funds. But upon exit, IBAS made the following unauthorized spending; 27 pieces of Prado SUV cars at N150m each for the assembly members, amounting to N4.050bn; he awarded the contract for the renovation of the State Secretariat, and made down payment of N20bn.”

Lenu, who said he based his figures from FAAC and NBS, debunked the N600bn by the speaker. Saying it could only have been made to cause rift and put the Governor in bad light.”

The principal officers of govt can now see why giving state of finance of a state is not only for public good but for their own good, too.

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