Emergency Rule:  How Ibas spent N302bn In 6 months – Rivers Govt

• SERAP mulls either fresh FOI request or amended court process 

By Our Reporter 

The Rivers State Government has disclosed in court documents that over N302bn was allegedly spent during the six-month emergency rule under the then Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), between March and August 2025.

The revelations emerged from a Freedom of Information suit filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) before the High Court of Rivers State in Port Harcourt.

According to the State’s Accountant-General and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Rivers State received over N253.48bn from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) within the six months.

The government also disclosed that the state received N44.87bn from other sources, bringing the total inflow to about N298.35bn, while total expenditure during the period was put at over N302.35bn.

The disclosures were contained in a counter-affidavit dated March 10, 2026, filed in response to SERAP’s suit marked PHC/4153/CS/2025, which is pending before Justice S.H. Aprioku.

Attached to the court filing were 49 pages of supporting documents, including bank statements marked as Exhibit DTI and capital pages of the Government House estimate marked as Exhibit DT2.

In the affidavit, the Rivers government stated that while N28bn was approved for the installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) at the State House, no money was eventually spent on the project.

It also maintained that it was not denying SERAP access to public records, insisting that the requested documents had now been compiled and released in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.

“The Defendants/Respondents do not contest SERAP’s right to access information under the Freedom of Information Act and has no intention whatsoever of withholding the requested documents,” the affidavit partly read.

It added that the government had “substantially complied” with SERAP’s request and argued that the delay in releasing the information did not cause any “specific or proven injury” to the organisation.

Reacting to the disclosures on Sunday, SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the organisation was reviewing the spending records to determine whether full compliance had been achieved.

Oluwadare stated that SERAP’s team was analysing the records “project-by-project” and would decide whether to file a fresh request for information or amend its court processes.

“Our teams are analysing the spending project-by-project and we will decide whether our requests for information have been fully complied with or whether a fresh request for information or an amendment to our originating processes is necessary,” he added.

According to SERAP’s preliminary assessment of the documents, the records showed multiple transfers to Government House, payments to individuals through NIP transfers, and disbursements to various government agencies during the six-month period.

The organisation said the documents revealed repeated payments to Government House ranging from N1.8m to N4.27bn.

Among the listed transactions were payments of N61.9m, N122m, N170m, N389m, N750m, N850m, and several repeated transfers of N900m. A single transfer of N4.27bn was reportedly recorded in August 2025.

SERAP further said the records showed that over N112.41bn was spent on salaries, pensions, and overheads, while N163.44bn was allocated to ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

Of the amount allocated to MDAs, over N106bn was reportedly disbursed in August alone, indicating a heavy concentration of spending within one month.

The documents also reportedly showed that N26.01bn was used for loan servicing, while over N491.59m went to bank charges, bringing both expenses to about N26.5bn.

On capital projects, SERAP said over N2.5bn was released for the construction of Government House quarters, but only about N1.1bn appeared in the records as actual spending.

It added that a revised allocation of N2.67bn was made for office building repairs, out of which about N404m was reportedly spent.

The group also pointed to an allocation of N350m for canteen and kitchen equipment, though it said it was unclear from the documents how much of the amount was eventually released.

In addition, over N463m was reportedly spent on rehabilitation projects, while a project initially budgeted at N800m appeared to have been revised upward to N1.56bn.

SERAP said the documents indicated that the closing balance in the government account as of August 2025 stood at N19.93bn.

The civic organisation is asking the court to determine whether, under the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, it is entitled to access and obtain the spending records it requested from the Rivers State Government.

The suit, filed on October 31, 2025, remains before Justice Aprioku, and has been adjourned till May 19, 2026, for further hearing.

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