Port Harcourt, Nigeria — Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has formally submitted the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the Rivers State House of Assembly, marking a significant fiscal step as the state moves toward preparation of its 2026 budget. The document was received during an emergency plenary of the Assembly on Thursday, its first sitting in more than three months.
Speaker Martin Chike Amaewhule read Governor Fubara’s letter conveying the three-year fiscal framework during the sitting. The MTEF is a key budget planning document that sets out the government’s expenditure and revenue assumptions over a multi-year period and must be considered before the annual appropriation bill is presented.
The sitting was notable because it marked the Assembly’s first plenary session since March, following a prolonged lull in legislative activities tied to the political crisis between the governor and lawmakers. Before the latest reconvening, the House had earlier met in January when it initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara and later failed to resume as scheduled, deepening uncertainty over governance and fiscal planning in the state.
Despite receiving the framework, lawmakers did not immediately debate it. The House deferred consideration of the 2026–2028 MTEF to a later date, effectively postponing action on the fiscal document for now.
The submission is still politically significant because it signals at least a temporary reopening of formal engagement between the executive and the Assembly after months of confrontation. It also clears an important procedural hurdle ahead of the eventual presentation of Rivers State’s 2026 budget, which cannot properly proceed without the medium-term fiscal framework.
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