Following the presentation of the 2025 Rivers State budget to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, the Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, Mr Jake Epelle, has described the move as an “Unprecedented and worrisome overreach.”
Saturday Telegraph had earlier reported that President Tinubu officially submitted the N1.481 trillion Rivers State 2025 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly on Thursday, May 22.
The Presentation came in the wake of the suspension of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the Governor of the State and his deputy amid ongoing political turmoil.
Speaking on The Morning Brief, a Channels Television breakfast programme on Friday, Epelle argued that the President had placed himself “on the wrong side of history” by submitting a state budget—an act he said violates the foundational tenets of democratic governance.
“This is the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history that a sitting President is presenting the budget of a state. The President has made history, but unfortunately, this time, on the wrong side of history,” Epelle stated.
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The rights advocate further condemned the development as an example of “executive overreach” with no legal or democratic justification, warning that it sets a dangerous precedent. He revealed that initial plans had aimed to delegate the responsibility to a sole administrator—an unelected figure—before public scrutiny prompted a change in strategy.
“Initially, they were going to push the so-called sole administrator to do this,” Epelle said. “But we called attention to the illegality of having a non-elected individual manage an elected office such as a state government.”
He also questioned the legitimacy of any governance process that permits unelected persons to control public resources, insisting that such actions directly undermine the rule of law and democratic institutions.
In a formal letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu requested swift legislative action on the bill, which he said prioritises infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture, with a goal of creating approximately 6,000 jobs.
The Senate subsequently referred the budget to its Ad-Hoc Committee on Emergency Rule for review. A similar request for approval was sent to the House of Representatives, with the President citing the Supreme Court’s nullification of the initial 2025 budget presented by the now-suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
