By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday, May 28, approved the Rivers State 2025 budget for its second reading.
The budget, amounting to ₦1,480,662,592,442 trillion, was passed for the second reading following its presentation by the Senate Leader, Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi. 
Senator Opeyemi stated that the Senate has taken on the responsibility of legislating for Rivers State due to its current State of Emergency status.
In his remarks, Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan emphasised the urgency of legislating the budget so that the citizens of Rivers State could experience the government’s presence.
He said, “Mr President, I don’t know under what topic this document is christened but I could see it is about a budget of the state of emergency.
“I hereby support that the budget be passed for second reading so that the people of Rivers can feel the presence of government.”
In the absence of opposition to the bill, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, passed the budget through voice vote and referred it to the Ad-hoc Committee on overseeing Rivers State of Emergency.
