The Rivers State House of Assembly on Thursday resumed legislative activities with the receipt of the 2026–2028 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) submitted by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, marking a significant step in the state’s budget preparation process.

 

 

The MTEF, which provides the fiscal framework for government spending and revenue projections over a three-year period, was formally transmitted to the Assembly through a letter read on the floor by Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, during the first legislative sitting of the Fourth Session of the Tenth Assembly.

 

 

According to the Speaker, the correspondence from Governor Fubara conveyed the administration’s proposed Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2026–2028, a document expected to guide the preparation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill and subsequent annual budgets.

 

 

Following the reading of the letter, the Majority Leader and Leader of Government Business, Hon. Major Jack, laid the document before the House for legislative consideration.

 

 

However, lawmakers deferred debate on the framework to a later legislative day to allow for detailed examination and scrutiny of its contents.

 

 

The submission is regarded as a crucial statutory requirement in the budgeting process, as the MTEF sets out the government’s economic assumptions, projected revenues, expenditure ceilings and development priorities over a medium-term period.

 

 

Although details of the fiscal projections contained in the document were not immediately disclosed during plenary, sources indicated that the framework is expected to reflect the administration’s commitment to infrastructure development, human capital advancement and sustainable economic growth across the state.

 

 

Thursday’s sitting also carried political significance as it marked the Assembly’s return to plenary after several months of inactivity.

 

 

The House last convened more than three months ago for the screening of commissioner nominees submitted by Governor Fubara. Prior to that, lawmakers had met on January 8, when impeachment proceedings were initiated against the governor before the Assembly adjourned and subsequently failed to reconvene on its scheduled resumption date of January 15.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the Assembly also received a petition from stakeholders of the Ngo-Oyorokoto communities, presented by Hon. Ofiks Kagbang.

 

 

The petitioners urged the House to initiate a full legislative investigation into the circumstances surrounding the stoppage and alleged abandonment of the Ngo-Oyorokoto Atlantic Road Project, a major infrastructure project considered critical to the development of coastal communities in Andoni Local Government Area.

 

 

The House is expected to deliberate on both the MTEF and the petition in subsequent sittings as lawmakers resume full legislative business.

 

 

The consideration and eventual approval of the MTEF will pave the way for the presentation of the 2026 budget by Governor Fubara, setting the tone for the state’s fiscal and development agenda in the coming year.