Groups laud Fubara on N100b IGR, zero borrowing for 2024 budget

The Opposition Coalition, All People’s Party (APP), and Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) have described Governor Siminalayi Fubara as an economic tactician under whose administration Rivers State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has increased by N100 billion.

They equally commended the Governor for funding the 2024 budget without borrowing, despite the futile efforts by the pro-Neysom Wike group to destabilise the South-South state.

The Opposition Coalition, APP, HURIWA made their feelings known while reacting to the budget speech of the Governor when he presented the Appropriation Bill, 2025, before the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Governor Fubara, while presenting a budget of N1.188 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year to the lawmakers, disclosed that Rivers State recorded a N100 billion IGR increase in 2024 and funded the 2024 budget without a single borrowing.

The Opposition Coalition, APP, HURIWA in a joint statement said: “It was gratifying listening to the Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, in his budget speech before the State House of Assembly, that the Rivers IGR has increased by N100 billion in 2024.

“This feat can only be achieved by an economic tactician like Governor Fubara, who, despite the distractions and provocations from Wike and his cohorts, concentrated on the economic rejuvenation of the state after years of plunder.

“We equally found it assuring and inspiring that even when the federal government is depending on domestic and external borrowings to fund its budget, the Rivers State Government, under the leadership of His Excellency Fubara, funded the 2024 budget without borrowing.

“It is our firm belief that the budget, tagged ‘Budget of Inclusive Growth and Development,’ which aims to consolidate the state’s economic growth, accelerate development, and improve the living standards of its citizens, would restore all that the people lost over the years.

“The allocation of N678.088 billion to capital expenditure, higher than the recurrent expenditure, which takes N462.254 billion, and a planning reserve of N35.688 billion with a closing balance of N12.931 billion, further demonstrates the commitment of Governor Fubara’s administration to the rapid development of the state.”