The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed a N1.85 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill, while ordering the removal of N6 billion earmarked as grants to PAMO University of Medical Sciences and Wigwe University pending an investigation into the actual beneficiaries.
The Assembly approved a total budget of N1,849,648,734,475.08 during its 37th Legislative Sitting of the Fourth Session on Thursday, following an extensive debate on the report of the House Committee on Appropriation.
Presenting the committee’s report, its chairman and Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Linda Somiari-Stewart, said the 2026 budget estimates were based on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2026–2028.
She said the framework placed emphasis on fiscal discipline and transparency in the management of public revenue.
The committee recommended that the N6 billion grant to PAMO University of Medical Sciences and Wigwe University be expunged from the budget, pending the outcome of an investigation to determine the actual beneficiaries of the grants.
It also recommended that funds be appropriated to the Primary Health Management Board to enable it rebuild its storage facility at No. 2 Accra Street, which was gutted by fire several months ago.
Contributing to the debate, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, commended the Appropriation Committee and other standing committees for what he described as a detailed report.
Amaewhule said the budget defence exercise had revealed that billions of naira belonging to Rivers State had allegedly been granted to private concerns over the years in the name of scholarship grants for Rivers indigenes.
He stressed that such funds must be properly accounted for before further appropriations were made to the private organisations.
The Speaker said the House would intensify its oversight of ministries, departments and agencies under its legislative competence to ensure greater productivity and prudent utilisation of public funds.
He said the Assembly remained determined to ensure that funds appropriated in the budget were judiciously utilised for the benefit of Rivers residents.
After the debate, the House reverted to plenary from the Committee of Supply, where the Speaker put the question on the appropriation bill.
The lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, approving N1,849,648,734,475.08 as the state’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which will run until September 2, 2027.