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The Rivers State Accountant-General and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning have revealed how former Rivers sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), allegedly spent over ₦302 billion received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations and other funds between March and August 2025.
The revelation was made following the Freedom of Information lawsuit with suit number PHC/4153/CS/2025, filed at the Rivers State High Court by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The Accountant-General and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning stated that “the FAAC allocations received by Rivers state between March and August 2025 were over ₦253 billion” in the counter-affidavit dated 10 March 2026, which was filed in response to SERAP’s lawsuit.
The counter-affidavit, read in part: “Our records show that ₦28 billion was approved for the installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) at the State House but no expenditure was incurred in respect of the project. Therefore, no document evidencing such expenditure can be provided.”
SERAP’s deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the organisation is analysing the spending project-by-project, and will decide whether its requests for information have been fully complied with or whether a fresh request for information or an amendment to the originating processes is necessary.
He disclosed that the preliminary assessment of the two exhibits, Exhibit DTI (bank statements) and Exhibit DT2 (capital pages of the Government House estimate) reveal that Rivers State received FAAC inflows of over ₦253.48 billion and other receipts totalling over ₦44.87 billion from March to August 2025, bringing the total funds received to approximately ₦298.35 billion.
“The two exhibits also show transfers to government entities, payments to individuals (NIP transfers), and repeated transfers to Government House during the period from March to August 2025. In total, over ₦302.35 billion was shown to have been spent during this period,” said Oluwadare.
“The exhibits reveal multiple payments to Government House ranging from ₦1.8 million to ₦4.27 billion, including transactions of ₦61.9 million, ₦122 million, ₦170 million, ₦389 million, ₦750 million, ₦850 million, and ₦900 million—with the ₦900 million payments occurring repeatedly. Notably, a single transfer of ₦4.27 billion was recorded in August.
“Over ₦112.41 billion (₦112,408,021,641.07) was reportedly spent on salaries, pensions, and overheads, while ₦163.44 billion (₦163,441,654,922.70) was allocated to ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
“Over ₦106 billion of the ₦163.44 billion allocated to MDAs was disbursed in August alone, showing a significant concentration of spending within a single month.
“Additionally, over ₦26.01 billion (₦26,011,189,540.73) was reportedly spent to service loans, while over ₦491.59 million (₦491,592,418.57) was spent on bank charges, bringing these to approximately ₦26.50 billion (₦26,502,781,959.30) during the same period.
Over ₦2.5 billion was released for the construction of Government House quarters, but only about ₦1.1 billion is reflected in the exhibits as actual spending. The exhibits show a revised allocation of ₦2.67 billion for office building repairs, while about ₦404 million was spent.
“₦350 million is stated to be allocated for canteen and kitchen equipment. It is unclear from the exhibits how much was released for the project. Over ₦463 million was shown to be spent on rehabilitation projects. A project initially budgeted at ₦800 million appeared to have been increased to ₦1.56 billion.
“The closing balance in the account as at August 2025 was ₦19,929,707,462.66.
The lawsuit, filed by SERAP on 31st October 2025 against the Accountant-General of Rivers State and Rivers State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is pending before Hon. Justice S.H. Aprioku of the Rivers State High Court.
The case has been adjourned to May 19, 2026, for further hearing.
