Rivers Speaker, Amaewhule knocks Fubara over ‘late’ 2026 budget framework presentation

Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, has slammed Governor Siminalayi Fubara over what he described as the delayed submission of the state’s 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF.

In a statement by his media aide, Martins Wachukwu, the Speaker said the document was presented far behind the timeline required by law.

According to him, the budget framework should have been submitted much earlier in line with the Rivers State Fiscal Responsibility Law, but was only forwarded when the year was already significantly advanced.

Recall that Fubara on Thursday submitted the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, to the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The Speaker, despite the delay, stated that the Assembly decided to approve the document in the interest of the state and to avoid further setbacks in the budget process.

The Rivers Assembly approved the spending framework on Friday during plenary, barely 24 hours after it was presented and read before lawmakers.

Amaewhule said Section 10(1)(b) of the Rivers State Fiscal Responsibility Law No. 8 of 2010 clearly provides that the MTEF should be laid before the House in September, four months before the start of the next fiscal year.

The Speaker further stated that Governor Fubara failed to comply with that legal timeline, resulting in what he described as a major delay in the budget planning process.

“The presentation was late. But in the interest of the state, the House deemed it expedient to consider the document, which is a precursor to the State’s 2026 Budget Estimate, even though the year is already half gone,” he said.