RIVERS ASSEMBLY SUSPENDS FUBARA IMPEACHMENT AFTER TINUBU’S INTERVENTION
Read Time:1 Minute, 33 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Rivers State House of Assembly has suspended impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu earlier this month.
The decision was taken on Thursday during plenary at the Assembly’s resumed sitting in Port Harcourt.
The House had, at its first sitting of 2026, initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara and Odu over allegations of gross misconduct. During plenary presided over by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, Major Jack, read a notice outlining the allegations.
The accusations against the governor and his deputy included the demolition of the Assembly complex, alleged extra-budgetary spending, withholding of funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, and refusal to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on the financial autonomy of the legislature.
The notices were issued pursuant to Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which outlines the procedure for the impeachment of a governor or deputy governor.
In a letter dated January 16, 2026, the Assembly requested the state Chief Judge, Simeon Amadi, to constitute a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations.
However, Justice Amadi declined, citing a subsisting High Court order restraining him from taking further action. Both Fubara and Odu had secured injunctions from a Port Harcourt High Court barring the Chief Judge from acting on the Assembly’s request or setting up the investigative panel.
The Chief Judge also noted that the Speaker and the Assembly had appealed the restraining order.
The impeachment move came days after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused Governor Fubara of reneging on a peace agreement brokered in 2025 by President Tinubu to resolve the protracted political crisis in Rivers State.
Thursday’s suspension of proceedings signals a temporary easing of tensions in the state’s political landscape, though underlying disputes between key actors remain unresolved.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0