In a matter of days, four lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly who had initially pulled out of the impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara later announced they favour his removal. Such a move is part of the high drama currently playing out in the state. EMMANUEL MASHA reports.

The backtracking of four Rivers State law makers for opted out of the impeachment of Governor Siminalayi Fubara has led some observers to argue that the lawmakers are not independent-minded, but out to please the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nyesom Wike.

It was certain to the Assembly members that Fubara stood no chance of surviving impeachment. But within a few days, the plot against the governor suffered a serious setback. The State’s Chief Judge declined to set up a seven-member panel to investigate the governor.

The Chief Judge, Justice Chibuzor Simeon Amadi, cited two court orders which prevent him from carrying out the task in a letter he addressed to the lawmakers. Amadi said his office had been served with two interim orders on January 16, following the suits filed by Fubara and Odu, asking the Rivers State Assembly to be “magnanimous enough to appreciate the legal position of the matter.”

The Chief Judge wrote a letter to the Assembly, informing them that the interim orders expressly restrained him from considering or acting on any request, resolution or document relating to impeachment proceedings against the governor or deputy governor.

“By the doctrine of ‘lis pendens’, parties and the court have to await the outcome of the appeal. “In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders.

I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant,” Amadi’s letter reads. Before then, a Rivers High Court in Port Harcourt had issued an interim order restraining the Chief Judge from receiving or acting on any impeachment notice against Fubara and Odu.

The Presiding Judge, Florence Fiberesima, had specifically barred the Chief Judge from “receiving, forwarding, considering, or acting on any request, resolution, or articles of impeachment” submitted by members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Although the lawmakers had raised the alarm that the governor had perfected plans to scuttle the impeachment against him via the court, legal experts have come out to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the courts to interpret constitutional provisions and interpretations.

Lawmakers seeking equity without clean hands?

Aside from the impeachment issues, the people of the state have also beamed the searchlight on the lawmakers for receiving the sum of N350m Constituency project fund from the then Sole Administrator, Admiral Ibok Ete- Ibas(rtd), said not to be part of the 2025 budget.

There are now calls for the investigation of the lawmakers. It was the Special Adviser to Rivers State Governor, Darlington Orji, who first alleged that the Assembly members received N350 million each for Constituency Projects. Orji also mentioned the N100, 000 payment the Fubara administration made in December to civil servants as an endof-year appreciation, and equally extended the same to members of the House of Assembly Recall that the lawmakers rejected the money because it was not appropriated.

The lawmakers’ reaction had angered some stakeholders, who have asked if the N350 million constituency fund was appropriated. The allegation and the absence of a denial or dismissal by the lawmakers have fuelled condemnation, with some stakeholders accusing the lawmakers of plotting to impeach the governor for selfish reasons.

A member of the Assembly representing Etche Constituency I, Hon. Ignatius Obenachi Onwuka, has confirmed the disbursement of the N350 million Constituency fund, adding that they are still expecting the N650 million balance to make it a total of N1 billion.

Endless crisis

The mere fact that the political crisis in the state has now lasted for more than two years in a four-year term is troubling to the people of the state and lovers of democracy across the country. What merely started as an impeachment threat has since degenerated to an open warfare against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu.

While the leadership of the House insists on impeaching Fubara, the people of the state are strongly against it. They have been speaking out against it. The questions they keep asking are: What crime did the governor commit to deserve impeachment?

Will impeachment benefit the state’s socio-economic well-being? Or is it a selfish agenda that will ultimately benefit a few individuals to the detriment of the state? Across the state, the generality of Rivers people know where the problem is coming from and why those behind the move are hell-bent on going ahead with the impeachment, even though it is almost impossible to accomplish.

The position of the key political leaders, including former governors, is that Rivers does not belong to one single individual; that those spearheading Fubara’s impeachment do not mean well for the state and that they (Amaewhule and his colleagues) stand no chance of impeaching the governor.

The crisis was supposed to have ended after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu invited the governor and Wike to Abuja. The President’s intervention was to allow peace reign so that the governor could focus on governing the state. That is why groups and individuals are taking positions.

The Ijaw National Congress (INC), under the leadership of Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has taken a bold stance in support of the governor and the state. “The INC categorically and unequivocally condemns this impeachment move as a grave threat to democracy, peace, and stability in Rivers and the Niger Delta region.

“This is the third of such attempts since 2023, revealing a relentless cycle of political vendetta that must be broken. We stand firmly with the people of Rivers and all defenders of constitutional order in rejecting this dangerous gambit. “The INC frames this crisis as a fundamental threat to democracy.

This is not a matter of the Ijaw nation but for democracy”. Also, a Coalition of Councillorship Candidates for Grassroots Governance in Rivers has condemned the impeachment moves, warning that if they continue with the plot, they will be recalled.

They also accused the lawmakers of plotting to hijack governance and betray the people’s trust through political brigandage, warning that they would move from one ward to another to effect their recall. Parts of the statement read:

“Should the Assembly proceed further down this unlawful path, the Coalition of Councillorship Candidates for Grassroots Governance will activate a comprehensive recall process against complicit members of the Rivers State House of Assembly across all constituencies,” the statement reads:

“We are prepared to mobilise ward by ward, street by street, and community by community to reclaim the people’s mandate and expose those who have chosen betrayal over representation.” Niger Delta rights activist, Annkio Briggs, is against the impeachment proceedings, arguing that it is only voters who should decide whether or not Fubara and his deputy continue in office.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Briggs said: ”What I’m concerned about is that the people of River State have the final say, and not the members of the State House of Assembly. “Unfortunately, the Assembly members do not have this knowledge that the power is not theirs to exercise; it is the people of Rivers State who own this power to exercise.

“I want to caution and I’m calling on the federal government, and now I’m going to call on the President, and I’m calling on the political party, APC, that they have received the Governor of River State, Fubara, into their political party of which the River State House of Assembly members are also members.

“The APC ought to be very careful. It’s going into the election next year. It has to be very careful how it is going about winning this election, how it is going about securing the votes of the Niger Delta as a whole, and securing the votes of Rivers people,” she said.

Alvin Idamieibi Igoni Benstowe, a concerned citizen, says: “He that comes to equity must come with clean hands. Before impeaching the governor, Mr Speaker must be investigated. “If Admiral Ibas didn’t include them on the 2025 Budget as they claim, then that means the N350m they received was done through a fraudulent process and therefore is unconstitutional and illegal, since it was not included in the 2025 Budget.

The last time I checked it is not constitutional to receive or spend money that is not part of the budget. “This further means that the Rivers Assembly has spent outside budget, therefore they are a threat to democracy, rule of law and order…”

A coalition of lawyers under the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) has also written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a bid to recall the Speaker and 25 other lawmakers.

ALDRAP accused the legislators of acting in defiance of the spirit and letter of a Supreme Court judgment delivered in February 2025, which urged all parties in the Rivers political conflict to pursue peaceful coexistence and exhaust amicable methods for resolving disputes, rather than resorting to confrontational actions capable of destabilising governance.

The lawyers’ letter, signed by ALDRAP Secretary Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, formally notified INEC of its intention to commence the constitutional process for recalling the affected lawmakers. It also requested Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the voter registers for all State Constituencies represented in the Rivers State House of Assembly, documents deemed essential to initiate the recall under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

However, a pro-democracy and account ability group, the National Vanguard for Accountable and Transparent Democracy (NVATD), feels that Fubara is responsible for the renewed crisis, for allegedly breaching a peace agreement brokered by Tinubu. The group claimed that Fubara’s alleged disregard for the peace deal by Tinubu is responsible for the impeachment move initiated against him by the Rivers State House of Assembly.

A statement signed by its spokesperson, Comrade Wisdom Abah, NVATD, argued, “By willfully breaching the peace deal supervised by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has invited political anarchy into Rivers State. “This impeachment crisis is not accidental; it is a direct consequence of the governor’s refusal to honour agreements freely entered into before the President and other key stakeholders.”

Tinubu intervenes

While the President was outside the country, there were calls for his intervention by Fubara’s supporters, who said that Wike was unnecessarily dragging the President into a needless fight. Their position is that Wike cannot be working for the president and at the same time be seen as abandoning his duties as FCT Minister to concentrate on Rivers politics.

That intervention first came when the Presidency announced Fubara as the leader of the APC in the state, having officially joined the party before Wike. The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Communication, Daniel Bwala, said the party’s structure in Rivers is unambiguous, noting that the APC national leadership sees Fubara as the party’s leader in the state.

He also said that Wike is not a member of the APC and therefore cannot speak for the party. Also, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, had earlier declared Fubara as the leader of the party in Rivers during an interview on Hard Copy on Channels Television.

“Governor Fubara is the leader of the APC in Rivers State, but he would need to coordinate with every other person in the state,” Mr Yilwatda said during the programme. “In all the states, we have the state governors lead the parties in their respective states.

In APC, we give them that privilege, but we also ask the governors to ensure inclusion — to coordinate and carry everyone along.” Ordinarily, the leader of the party is not supposed to cause any problem between Fubara and Wike; but in a state where emphasis is placed on the control of political structure, it becomes a serious issue.

For instance, Wike has complained that Fubara joined the APC without his knowledge; that he went straight to Abuja without his input. But observers have faulted Wike on that, saying that he cannot be fighting for the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Also, those in support of Fubara are of the opinion that his defection without Wike’s input was a strategic move to free himself from the stranglehold of the lawmakers, who have maintained their post reconciliation posture.

“There is no state apart from Rivers where a governor is denied a second term in office, and still be threatened with impeachment,” says a chieftain of Rivers APC, who declined to have his name in print because he is not authorized to speak on the issue.