A storm of discontent is brewing in Rivers State as civil servants, in conjunction with the Rivers Solidarity for Good Governance, have issued a decisive ultimatum to the State House of Assembly. The demand? Immediate transmission of the 2025 budget from the executive arm no later than Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
Expressing outrage over protracted inertia, the coalition denounced what they termed “brazen governance paralysis and legislative sabotage.” They warned that if their demands are disregarded, the state would witness an unyielding wave of resistance.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the civil servants—led by Opu-Oyibo Lilly-West—delivered a scathing rebuke to the Rivers State House of Assembly. They accused lawmakers of deliberately stalling the budgetary process, thereby plunging workers, traders, and ordinary residents into economic uncertainty and administrative paralysis.
“Your flagrant indifference to the dire needs of this state has thrown essential contracts into limbo and put salaries in jeopardy.
By indulging in theatrics rather than governance, you have sabotaged public institutions and betrayed the very people who entrusted you with legislative authority,” Lilly-West declared.
The coalition demanded that the budget be submitted and fully presented before the Assembly by March 19, 2025, as stipulated in the letter by Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Framing their demand as “an unequivocal directive infused with the righteous indignation of thousands of civil servants, their families, and the wider citizenry,” the groups made it clear that any further political brinkmanship would trigger relentless mass action.
“Should you fail to act, the tide of defiance will surge unstoppably,” the coalition asserted. “The collective power of the civil service, alongside the embattled voices of the people, will erupt in resolute protest against this blatant dereliction of duty. This is not a mere warning—it is an ironclad commitment to action.”
Denouncing what they described as “hollow rhetoric and legislative grandstanding,” the coalition demanded that the House of Assembly abandon its “charade of delay” and fulfill its constitutional duty without subterfuge or manipulation.
“Governance is not a stage for frivolous spectacle,” they declared. “The people of Rivers will no longer tolerate perfidious gamesmanship. Act now—or brace for the tempest that follows.”
The countdown to March 19 has begun, and all eyes remain fixed on the Rivers State Assembly, as tensions continue to escalate.
