Former President of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Onueze Okocha (SAN), has cautioned the Rivers State House of Assembly against probing ex-Sole Administrator, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas.

Okocha stated this while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Port Harcourt.

He urged the lawmakers to focus on rebuilding the state through robust legislative commitments.

According to him, the House should channel its energy to accomplishing constitutional duties rather than probing.

He said that plans by the members to review as well as probe the Administrator’s spending during the six-month emergency rule were unnecessary.

Okocha said that if the probe was carried out, it could be misunderstood as a witch-hunt, since he was only deployed to accomplish a task as directed by President Bola Tinubu.

“I think Ibas deserved some honour and respect; it will be unkind if our lawmakers begin to talk about probing him since they did not appoint him, nor was he reporting to them.

“As a concerned citizen of the state, my advice to the Lawmakers is that they should ignore the plan of probing Ibas and allow the state to run peacefully along democratic lines.

“There’s an urgent need for a harmonious relationship amongst the three arms of government, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary if we must move forward,” he said.

The former NBA boss, therefore, appealed to the lawmakers to preoccupy themselves with rebuilding harmonious relationships with the various arms of government to achieve democratic stability in the state.

..…Urges MDAs to Set up Internal Budget Implementation Team

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji has expressed satisfaction with the steady improvement in the State’s budget performance, describing it as a reflection of his administration’s commitment to transparency, accountability and prudent management of resources.

Governor Oyebanji stated this on Sunday during the Treasury Board Meeting involving senior government officials across MDAs and extra-Ministerial Departments on the Proposed 2026 Budget, held at the Lady Jibowu Hall, Government House in Ado Ekiti.

He commended the heads of MDAs for ensuring effective implementation of government policies and programmes, which, according to the Governor, has resulted in improved budget outcomes across various sectors.

The Governor, however, charged all MDAs to set up internal implementation teams to ensure seamless execution of approved projects and programmes in alignment with the 2026 budget.

He explained that such team would help strengthen internal monitoring, enhance performance tracking and promote greater coordination among departments.

The Governor said “ I also want to advise that as we have the budget implementation team at the state level, it wouldn’t be too much for MDAs too to have a small team to watch over your budget. MDAs should set up ministerial implementation team that will ensure that all programmes are in alignment with budget”.

Emphasizing that his administration places high premium on value for money and result-oriented budgeting, the Governor urged the state officials to avoid waste and ensure that every expenditure directly benefit Ekiti people.

While expressing satisfaction with his administration’s achievements in agriculture sector, the Governor said he was deliberate in investing hugely in the sector to address unemployment and food security.

Speaking further, Governor Oyebanji said the 2026 budget will focus primarily on completion of all ongoing infrastructure projects across the various communities. He also expressed optimism that the 2026 budget would further bring unprecedented growth and development to the state.

“We are not doing badly at all with our budget, we must understand our nature as a people, understand our limitations and our own challenges. It is good to benchmark our self with states that are doing well but we are not in the same class, within our frame, where God has created us, we are trying our best and I must commend all of you.

“I am so happy with our achievement in the agric sector, that in one year we can create 5,000 jobs for our youth and they are there, they have not left and more people are clamouring to join them”, the Governor stated.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chief of Staff, Mr Niyi Adebayo, who acknowledged the consistent efficiency of the budget planning process in the State, attributed it to the adoption of zero-based budgeting and a medium-term expenditure framework spanning 2026 to 2028. He expressed appreciation to the accounting officers and other government officials who have adopted and implemented new frameworks and budgeting techniques aimed at improving fiscal discipline and credibility.

Commending the state commitment to timely budget preparation and adherence to global best practices. Mr Adebayo, who stressed the importance of collective ownership of the budget document to ensure its successful passage, acceptance, and implementation across key sectors, particularly infrastructure and social services, urged all participants to carry the same level of dedication into the public execution phase of the budget.

Presenting the overview of the proposed 2026 expenditure estimate, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Performance Management, Barr. Olusola Akinluyi, who commended the Governor for his visionary leadership and commitment to fiscal responsibility, explained that the state budget performance in 2023, 2024 and 2025 had been a progression of systemic growth.

While maintaining that government had not taken any loan since the inception of the current administration, the Permanent Secretary noted that the projection for the 2026 budget has been put at N415 billion with the recurrent expenditure of N252 billion.

Also at the event were, the Deputy Governor, Chief (Mrs) Monisade Afuye, Secretary to the state Government, Prof. Habibat Adubiaro, Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Folakemi Olomojobi, Chief of Staff, Mr Oyeniyi Adebayo, members of the State Executive Council, Permanent Secretaries, top Government Officials, among others.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to immediately reduce the cost of the 2026 Hajj fares that it had recently announced.

The Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadeija, made this known while briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with the officials of NAHCON, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAHCON after due consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, announced the 2026 hajj fare as follows: Maiduguri-Yola Zone (Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba) will pay N8,318,336.67.

Others are: Northern States will pay N8,244,813.67; while Southern States will pay N8,561,013.67, respectively.

However, Hadeija, said Tinubu felt the need for the commission to look at the possibility of reducing the hajj fare.

He said, ” This meeting was essentially called at the instance of His Excellency, the Vice-President to look at the possibility of reducing the Hajj fare for the 2026 pilgrimage.

” As you know, the hajj fare component is about 95 and 96 percent foreign exchange based.

“The fares announced by the NAHCON were based on a very pessimistic exchange rate of N1,550.

” And the rates have continue to improve steadily with the naira appreciating based on the effects of the economic reforms of the government taken place.”

Hadeija stated that the vice-president felt that, if during last hajj pilgrimage, pilgrims paid between N8.5 to N8.6 million based on negative exchange rate, now that the exchange rate had improved .

He continued,”Then we should also pass the benefits to them and all the officers of the Hajj commission are here and they have been told to immediately go to look at more realistic exchange rates.

” If they apply that we should be able to bring the hajj fare to N7.6 to N7.7 million.

“The final figure will be announced in the next two days.

” But this is also dependent on very quick remittance of the funds from the State Muslims Pilgrim Welfare Boards.

” The faster the pilgrims pay their hajj fares and they are remitted to the hajj commission, the faster they can pass it to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to buy the dollars for them.

” So. If we achieve that, we for see a situation pilgrims this year will have a very significant reduction in the Hajj rate. “

On his part, the Chairman, Kebbi Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Faruk Yaro, expressed gratitude to Tinubu and Shettima for their timely intervention.

He said, ” We are very happy because, the president and the vice-president have already intervened.

” We thank God for what they have done which is expected to bring down the cost of hajj fare. “

Also, the Secretary of NAHCON, Dr Mustapha Mohammad, said, ” it is a welcome development and the lower the hajj fare is l, the more Muslims will have the opportunity of performing the hajj.

” So, as directed by the vice-president, we will work tirelessly between today and tomorrow to see that we reduce it to an affordable rate where each and every Muslim will have the opportunity to perform this very important pillar of islam.