By Muhammad Mamman
Political crisis deepens as party accuses governor of insulting Tinubu, while Fubara dismisses lawmakers as ‘non-existent’.
The Rivers State chapter of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has instructed its members in the state House of Assembly to begin impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, escalating a political standoff that has rocked the oil-rich state for nearly a year.
The directive was announced on Tuesday by APC state chairman Chief Tony Okocha, just a day after Fubara publicly declared that the state assembly led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule “does not exist in the eyes of the law.”
Okocha told reporters in Port Harcourt that the governor’s statements were an affront not only to democratic institutions but also to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had personally brokered a fragile peace accord between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
> “The governor has insulted the sensibility of President Tinubu, who waded in to resolve this crisis. His refusal to honour the peace agreement is an affront to the presidency and to the rule of law,” Okocha said.
The roots of the crisis
The political conflict in Rivers State traces back to late 2023, when a rift between Fubara and Wike—his political mentor and predecessor—spiraled into open confrontation. The disagreement, centred on control of the state’s political machinery, has since fractured the state assembly and polarised the state’s ruling party.
The latest flashpoint came after the assembly, dominated by pro-Wike lawmakers, passed the Rivers State Public Procurement (Amendment) Bill, 2024. When Fubara withheld assent, the Amaewhule-led assembly invoked its constitutional powers to override the governor’s decision and passed the bill into law at its 173rd sitting.
Amaewhule and his allies argued the legislation was necessary to prevent “frivolous spending” and to safeguard taxpayers’ money from opaque contracts. But Fubara, in turn, accused the lawmakers of attempting to undermine his authority.
At a meeting with a delegation of political and traditional leaders from neighbouring Bayelsa State this week, the governor declared that the lawmakers owed their continued existence to his willingness to abide by the Abuja peace accord brokered by Tinubu.
> “Those group of men who claim they are Assembly members are not Assembly members. They are not existing,” Fubara said. “I accepted that peace accord to give them a floating. Their existence is me allowing them to exist. If I de-recognise them, they are nowhere.”
The peace accord under strain
In December 2023, President Tinubu convened a meeting in Abuja that produced a peace framework designed to end hostilities between Fubara and Wike’s camp. The accord was seen as a temporary solution, allowing both sides to co-exist without further destabilising the state.
But months later, Fubara insists the accord was merely a “political solution” and not a constitutional one. He told visiting dignitaries—including former Bayelsa governor Henry Seriake Dickson and retired military administrator Alfred Diete-Spiff—that his patience should not be mistaken for weakness.
> “I have always attended every meeting to resolve this crisis, but after each one, I am faced with a new attack. I want you to see the sacrifice I have made in allowing peace to reign,” he said.
The governor also suggested that his relationship with many of the lawmakers was once personal, noting that some had benefited from his generosity before he assumed office.
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APC’s justification for impeachment
For the Rivers APC, however, Fubara’s rhetoric crossed a line. Okocha told journalists that by openly declaring the assembly illegitimate, the governor had undermined constitutional order and betrayed Tinubu’s intervention.
The party insists impeachment is not only justified but necessary to protect democratic institutions in Rivers State.
> “We cannot allow a governor who disregards the constitution and the presidency to continue in office unchecked. If this behaviour is left unchallenged, it will set a dangerous precedent for other states,” Okocha said.
The APC’s move raises the stakes in an already volatile political climate, as impeachment proceedings would require two-thirds of the 32-member assembly—most of whom remain loyal to Wike.
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Assembly pushes back
Speaker Amaewhule has maintained that the legislature will not back down from its oversight role. He said the procurement bill was critical to ensuring fiscal responsibility in the state and accused the governor of “tyrannical tendencies.”
“The House cannot stand aloof and watch the governor continue to breach the laws of the state in a dictatorial manner,” he said at a recent sitting.
Amaewhule added that the assembly would “at the appropriate time take more stringent measures” if the governor continued on his current path.
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Broader political implications
The Rivers crisis has implications beyond state politics. The state is one of Nigeria’s largest oil-producing regions, and instability there often reverberates through the Niger Delta, where long-standing grievances over resource control and underdevelopment have occasionally triggered unrest.
Analysts also warn that the standoff could test President Tinubu’s influence within the ruling APC. While Wike remains a powerful figure in Rivers politics, Fubara’s defiance raises questions about how much control the presidency can exert over state-level disputes.
“Tinubu’s peace accord was meant to stabilise Rivers, but its breakdown shows the limits of federal mediation in deeply personalised political battles,” said one Port Harcourt-based political analyst.
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What next?
For now, Governor Fubara appears defiant, insisting that his government remains focused on delivering services despite legislative obstruction. His supporters argue that the assembly has overstepped its bounds and is working at the behest of his rivals.
But with the APC pressing for impeachment, and the assembly leadership threatening “stringent measures,” the crisis seems far from resolution.
Whether Tinubu will once again intervene, or whether the courts will eventually be asked to determine the legality of the rival factions, remains unclear.
What is certain, however, is that Rivers State finds itself once more at the heart of Nigeria’s perennial struggle between executive power, legislative oversight, and political loyalty.
