Impeachment: APC, Rivers Assembly at ‘war’ over Fubara, deputy
SKAiF NewsNG SNN
By Dan Abia, Davies Iheamnachor & Luminous Jannamike
PORT HARCOURT – The renewed crisis In Rivers State, the situation reached a crescendo yesterday, with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, being at loggerheads with the House of Assembly following the initiation of impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his Deputy, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, over allegations of gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds.
The lawmakers reconvened from their recess that would have lapsed on January 26, to commence the removal process and adjourned to January 15, in a move that has kicked up dust in the polity.
The Rivers APC, Ijaw National Congress, INC, and Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, were among groups that rejected the impeachment proceedings outright and urged the legislators to resist pressures to destabilise Fubara’s government.
Specifically, the APC, which Fubara joined recently from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said the governor had done no wrong by not presenting a 2026 budget because the budget passed by the National Assembly for the state during the six months emergency rule will run till August 2026.
However, there was a sharp split within the PDP, as the Wike-backed faction of the party endorsed the process while the PDP National Working Committee, NWC, adopted a cautious, watchful stance.
Also, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, said it is closely monitoring unfolding political developments in Rivers State before taking a definitive position on the matter.
Why Fubara, Odu must go —Assembly
The Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule, said the decision of the House stemmed from alleged failure of Fubara and his deputy, Odu, to present the budget of the state.
The lawmakers alleged that Fubara had refused to allow the Assembly make inputs into the appropriation bills of the state, adding that the offences are impeachable.
This was contained in a motion by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Dumle Maol and seconded by Silvernus Nwankwo.
Relying on Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the Majority Leader of the House, Major Jack, reeled out seven points of gross misconduct against Governor Fubara. The accusations include demolition of the Assembly Complex, extra-budgetary spending, withholding funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, and refusal to obey the Supreme Court ruling on financial autonomy of the House.
After the Majority Leader laid his notice before the Speaker, the Deputy Leader, Linda Stewart, brought forward a notice of gross misconduct against the Deputy Governor, Prof. Odu.
Some of the accusations are: Reckless and unconstitutional spending of public funds; obstructing the House of Assembly from performing her constitutional duties as outlined by the 1999 constitution; conniving to allow unauthorised persons to occupy offices without proper screening by the legitimate House of Assembly; Approaching another group of people for budgetary approval instead of the legitimate Rivers State House of Assembly; and Seizure of salaries and allowances accruing to the RSHA and the Assembly Service Commission among others.
Fubara’s a mistake — Speaker
Commenting on the motion, Speaker Amaewhule, said the misconduct in the notice centered around presentation of budget and spending outside the state’s appropriation bill.
Amaewhule said: “It is important that the process we are about to go through in line with the provisions of the constitution and the particulars of those misconducts have a lot to do with the presentation of budget, spending outside the appropriation law, which corroborates what members also indicated in that notice.
“But we are not discussing the notice, or when they make a reference to it, which is that there is a notice, and the process of impeachment is on, as we speak.
“In any case, the governor does not even want to present any budget, because if he wanted to, he would have brought it all this while.
“Siminalayi Fubara is a mistake. He is a mistake. Rivers has never had it this bad. In the entire Nigeria, Siminalayi Fubara and Prof. Odu are the only two people in office at the sub-national level that are yet to present the 2026 appropriation bill.
“I’m sure if you go to the entire African sub-region, even Africa, you will not find any sub-national government that has not presented an appropriation bill for 2026.
“Who would believe that in this 21st century, that a state like Rivers State will not have an appropriation bill, either present or past? Nothing is holding the governor from presenting it. He chose not to.
“He has been boasting, he has been saying it to his followers, that this assembly, we are nothing but two closed doors. In this state-represented assembly, we cannot enforce the constitution. This is a sad commentary for our democracy.”
He alleged that even when the assembly approved a budget for the governor, he abandoned it and started awarding contracts away from the appropriation bill.
His words: “Even when we had an approval in 2023 for the governor to spend, the governor left the appropriation law of 2023 and started awarding contracts outside the budget.
“For how long are we going to allow this to happen? Our schools are not functioning. Our schools are not functioning the way they should function. Rivers people are suffering. Our youth are not being employed.
Our roads are bad. Our hospitals, health centres are not fully functional. A lot of them are having issues. Rather than follow through the process, what the governor has decided to do is to save money, change it to dollars to subvert the will of the Rivers people, to subvert the constitution.
Claiming that Fubara is a threat to democracy, he said “enough is enough,”and the law has to take its course on the matter because President Bola Tinubu has done enough to ensure that Fubara turned a new leaf but the governor has remained unchanged.
He said: “Let the law take its course. The law has to take its course. We thank Mr. President.
He is a father. Mr. President has done his best. Mr. President has spoken to the governor. In my presence, Mr. President told the governor, I’m giving you a second chance. The governor refused. He gave him another one, the governor refused. How many times?
“Distinguished colleagues, by this motion, this House thereby condemns the refusal of the governor of Rivers State to present the middle-term expedition framework and the 2026 appropriation bill in line with Rivers State laws and the constitution, respectively, as well as a reckless spending from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Rivers State.
“On this, the House is declaring that the House will not proceed with any action for presentation of the middle-term expenditure framework and appropriation bill 2026 until the investigation of gross misconduct leveled against the governor has been completed,” Amaewhule gavelled and adjourned proceeding on the impeachment proceedings till January 15.
No fewer than 26 of the 32 lawmakers of the House signed the notice, which Speaker Amaewhule said would be served on the governor within seven days, marking the formal start of the impeachment process.
APC rejects impeachment proceeding against Fubara
Rejecting the impeachment move against Fubara and Odu, the Rivers APC urged the lawmakers to resist pressure from outside the legislature to destabilise Fubara’s administration.
Factional spokesman of the party in the state, Darlington Nwauju, in a statement, described the Assembly’s move as an unfortunate development.
Nwauju regretted that the lawmakers are importing the crisis in their former party (PDP) into the APC, adding it would be bad if the APC remained silent.
He said: “We concede that the legislature is an independent arm in the tripod of governance, and the constitutional responsibilities of check and balances are within their democratic purview.
“Our position as of today on this matter is that, we solemnly reject the resort to an impeachment process against our Governor and his deputy.
“It will be totally untenable for our party to keep quiet when an obvious hangover from strifes that occurred within the PDP are allowed to resurface in our great party.”
Nwauju noted that the out-gone Sole Administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, retd., submitted a budget to the National Assembly, it was passed into law, and the lifeline of the budget was still valid.
He explained further that the law still permits the state to run even till six months without a budget, noting that it stands at the discretion of the governor to abide by the budget already passed by the National Assembly or make a new appropriation bill.
He said: “It is important to say to Rivers people and Nigerians that since the latest threat of impeachment centres on the budget, may we remind ourselves that under the period of emergency rule, a budget was transmitted to the National Assembly by the President and Commander-in-Chief in May 2025 which was approved by the Senate on June 25, 2025, and subsequently by the House of Representatives on July 22, 2025 for a total sum of N1.485 trillion.
“Interestingly, this budget is for one year and should run until August 2026 and if the Governor is comfortable with the composition of the said budget, he may elect not to present any supplementary budget. Besides, the constitution allows for a six-month spending window into the new fiscal year by a state governor.
“We, therefore, strongly advise all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, especially APC members, to resist pressures from outside the Assembly chambers to destabilise the Government of Rivers State led by Sir Fubara.”
He said the party will do everything possible to ensure that the state and governor are protected.
He said: “Let it be known that our party will do everything possible to ensure that the Government of Rivers State, which is an APC government, is not destabilised through fratricidal disagreements.
“We therefore call on members of the State Assembly, especially APC members, to immediately discontinue the impeachment process in order not to drag the image of our great party to the mud and stifle the continuous progress and development of Rivers State.”
Rivers APC faction concur
Equally, the faction of Rivers APC led by Chief Emeka Beke, said: “We concede that the legislature is an independent arm in the tripod of governance, and the constitutional responsibilities of checks and balances are within their democratic purview.
“Our position as at today on this matter is that, we solemnly reject the resort to an impeachment process against our governor and his deputy. It will be totally untenable for our party to keep quiet when an obvious hangover from strife that occurred within the PDP is allowed to resurface in our great party.”
PDP split as Wike’s camp backs Rivers Assembly
There was a split in the PDP on the issue. While the Wike-backed faction endorsed the process, the PDP NWC adopted a cautious, watchful stance.
Speaking separately with Vanguard in Abuja, yesterday, Jungudo Haruna, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP National Caretaker Committee led by Abdulrahman Mohammed and backed by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, distanced the party from the embattled governor and framed the impeachment as a constitutional, not political, matter.
“You know Governor Fubara is no longer a member of our party and we are wishing him well for moving to the APC. It is within his constitutional right to do so,” Haruna said, adding that the impeachment process should not be viewed through a partisan lens because the allegations raised against the governor deserve institutional scrutiny.
“The issues of impeachment are clearly not issues that have to do with party politics. There are issues as we had allegations of misappropriation or is it abuse of office? These are issues that he has to go and clear himself. The process has started and there are laid-down constitutional procedures.
“So, we advise him to follow the procedures, the steps and then at the end of the day, if he is not guilty of the charges, fine and good. But if he’s found wanting, we must all stand up to commend the members of the River State House of Assembly for ensuring a proper separation of power.”
He went further to commend the lawmakers, portraying their action as a demonstration of legislative independence rather than political aggression.
In contrast, the PDP NWC led by Kabiru Turaki declined to take a definitive position on the impeachment, signalling restraint amid the unfolding crisis.
Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the Turaki-led NWC, told Vanguard that the party leadership iwas withholding comments for now.
“We’re not reacting, we’re monitoring. So let’s just monitor and see what happens,” Ememobong said.
Drop move against Fubara, INC, IYC urge Assembly
Amid a renewed political tension in Rivers State, the Ijaw National Congress, INC, a socio-cultural organization of the Ijaw-speaking ethnic nationality has urged the Assembly to sheathe its sword in the interest of peace in the state.
Also, the youth wing of INC, Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, called on the lawmakers to consider the interests of Rivers people far and above personal interests by allowing Fubara to quietly complete his first tenure.
Responding to the impeachment proceedings, INC President, Prof Benjamin Okaba said: “This is not a matter of Ijaw Nation. It is about democracy. We call on all lovers of democracy to rise up against this unfortunate development.”
Okaba described what is happening in Rivers State as “a state capture by one individual, who wants to turn Rivers to his personal estate”, adding that, it is unfortunate that after the crisis was resolved and things began to work normally after the six months suspension of the governor and his deputy, “this has come up again.”
On his party, the president of IYC, Dr. Alaye Theophilus, urged the state Assembly to point out areas where Governor Fubara spent money without the 2025 budgetary provision as alleged on the floor of the House.
“They should allow Fubara to complete his tenure in peace. This is time for governance and not war. Fubara has been under attack for close to three years now for offences he never committed. It is the Rivers people that are losing in the whole of this crisis.”
According to the IYC President, the “attitude of the lawmakers is a clear indication that they are disloyal to President Tinubu. They should respect the President and allow him to return to the country, and if Fubara had done anything wrong, report back to the President.”
Theophilus condemned the impeachment process, saying that such an attempt will never see the light of the day. “The governor has not done anything wrong. The young man has brought development to the state. Look at the projects he has initiated all through the state. What is the governor’s offence that should warrant impeachment?”
ADC monitoring Rivers crisis, yet to take position — Spokesman
Contacted on the issue, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said the party was closely monitoring unfolding political developments in Rivers State and would respond only after a careful assessment of events.
“We’re studying political development in Rivers. Let us study it, see what happens and then take an informed position on the matter,” Abdullahi said.
It will be recalled that on December 5, 2025, about 17 lawmakers from the state Assembly defected from the PDP, to the APC. On December 9, Governor Fubara also defected to the APC.
The impeachment process on the governor and his deputy came as a shock to many people who thought that joining the ruling APC would shield the governor from such a threat.
Wike had earlier said publicly that if Fubara should win a second term, he would be buried politically while Fubara on the other hand, had been boasting that he remains the political leader of Rivers state politics given his APC card registration number as 001.
This is the third time in a row that the Assembly has attempted to impeach the governor. First, was in 2023, then 2025 before the declaration of state of emergency and now in 2026. It is left to be seen if this will also see the light of the day.
The post Impeachment: APC, Rivers Assembly at ‘war’ over Fubara, deputy appeared first on Vanguard News.
