The Rivers Assembly held its first sitting in more than three months on Thursday, receiving Governor Fubara’s 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and signalling a possible restart of legislative business in the state.
The Rivers State House of Assembly on Thursday received the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) submitted by Governor Siminalayi Fubara during an emergency sitting in Port Harcourt.
The development came as the assembly reconvened for the first time in more than three months following growing calls for the governor to present the state’s 2026 budget to the legislature.
The sitting marked the House’s first plenary session since March, when lawmakers screened commissioner nominees forwarded by Mr Fubara but rejected four of them.
Before then, the assembly had met on 8 January, when it initiated impeachment proceedings against the governor following the prolonged political crisis in the state. The lawmakers subsequently adjourned and did not reconvene on their scheduled resumption date of 15 January.
The submission of the MTEF is a key step in the budget preparation process, providing expenditure and revenue projections that guide the formulation of annual budgets.
However, lawmakers did not immediately deliberate on the document.
At the end of Thursday’s plenary, the House deferred debate on the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework to a later date.
The reason for the emergency sitting was not officially disclosed before proceedings began, fuelling speculation that the House might consider matters relating to the state’s budget process.
The latest development suggests a resumption of legislative activities after months of inactivity that had raised concerns among stakeholders about governance and fiscal planning in Rivers State.
