Rivers State’s hastily passed 2014 budget

The simmering political upheavals in the state have made it almost impossible for routine governance activities to take place. These have also affected the normal work of the Rivers State House of Assembly.  The state has long been in this polarised condition because of divided loyalties between supporters of the state governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi […]

The simmering political upheavals in the state have made it almost impossible for routine governance activities to take place. These have also affected the normal work of the Rivers State House of Assembly.  The state has long been in this polarised condition because of divided loyalties between supporters of the state governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi and those of the Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, who apparently has the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan and the First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan.  
The political division is threatening to make the state ungovernable; in the early days of the crisis, it led the House of Representatives last year to take over the legislative duties of the state assembly. Even when a court judgment restored the right for the assembly to resume its legislative duties, an attempt to hold a session was thwarted by personnel of the Rivers State Police Command, whose top leadership appears to have taken partisan sides that Governor Amaechi alleged were against the interest of the state government.
 Even normal political gatherings of supporters of the governor have been violently disrupted, while the police provide protection to anti-Amaech rallies. So it was not surprising that the majority members of the assembly followed the path of the ‘doctrine of necessity’ to sit outside the usual chambers to receive the state’s 2014 budget estimates sent to them by the governor.
Having embarked on that cause, the lawmakers proceeded to expeditiously execute the business of the day. The governor was on standby to be ushered in to present the 2014 Appropriation Bill. Soon after he did, the first and second readings were done in minutes and the approved budget was submitted to the governor who of course with alacrity signed it into law.
All these took place in the old chambers of the Government House in Port Harcourt. The sitting and venue of the event was made known to only the 27 lawmakers loyal to Governor Amaechi. It understandably considered that if its sitting and venue were publicised there was likelihood that the police would disrupt it.
Under normal circumstances, this episode would be a charade; but the events in Rivers States today cannot be said to be normal. The conduct of the legislators can certainly be questioned; but did they really have any option?
There are hospitals to be stocked with drugs; roads to be built or repaired; salaries to be paid; obligations to contractors to be met; sewage to be cleared, etc, but some groups seemed to want all these to be grounded for political reasons, ignoring the socio-economic consequences. How can all these commitments be met if the government is starved of funds? How can the government get the funds if the legislature does not appropriate them?
President Jonathan remarked in 2011 that his election was not worth spilling the blood of any Nigerian for. The Rivers case presents opportunity for him to walk his talk by restraining members of his administration from acts that could escalate the already charged situation in the state.