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Rivers State, the treasure base of the nation, has turned out to be the treasure base of crisis. The state is always engulfed in political turbulence. If it is not between a godfather and his godson, it will be a battle among cultists or militants. The recent events in the state, coming soon after the end of the six-month emergency rule, can best be described as a pollution of the sacred water of our democracy.
Currently, some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly want to remove the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Ngozi Odu. This is the third impeachment attempt against the governor. There were similar attempts on October 30, 2023, and March 17, 2025.
The Majority Leader, Major Jack, presented a series of allegations against the governor. Twenty-six of the lawmakers endorsed the notice of allegations. On the surface of it, the lawmakers are angry that Fubara allegedly engaged in extra-budgetary spending amounting to over N800 billion without legislative approval. He was also said to have demolished the House of Assembly complex in 2023, among others.
The governor also reportedly declined the request of the lawmakers for supplementary budget. Rather, he was said to have assured the legislators that all legitimate interests would be accommodated in the 2026 budget. This did not go down well with the lawmakers loyal to the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike. They purportedly wanted the supplementary budget because they felt that their interests were not captured in the budget passed under the state’s emergency rule.
The state Assembly members have written the Chief Judge of the state to set up a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy.
But a Rivers State High Court has issued an interim order against the Speaker and 32 others, including the Clerk of the House and the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, restraining the Chief Judge from receiving the impeachment notice against Fubara. The court also stopped the Chief Judge from forwarding or acting on any request, resolution, articles of impeachment or other documents from the lawmakers for the purpose of constituting a panel to investigate the allegations against the governor and his deputy. The case has been adjourned to January 23 for hearing of the motion on notice.
Beneath these allegations lies a surreptitious plot by the powers that be to control the soul of Rivers State. The Assembly complex was not demolished today. It was done in 2023 after it was rocked by fire and explosion following a politically charged atmosphere in the state.
That incident has been overtaken by a series of other events. For instance, the Edison Ehie-led faction of the House of Assembly declared the seats of Martins Amaewhule-led 27 lawmakers loyal to former governor Wike vacant in December 2023. Reason was that they reportedly defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on whose platform they were elected. The Supreme Court later nullified this purported expulsion. A six-month state of emergency, which President Bola Tinubu declared in the state on March 18, 2025, elapsed since September 2025.
The emergency rule, which led to the suspension of Fubara, Odu and the state lawmakers, was lifted because we were told that peace had returned to the state and that President Tinubu had saved the state from total paralysis of governance. We were also made to understand that the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), had achieved the purpose for which he was imposed on the state. Tinubu added that there was a new spirit of understanding among the stakeholders in the state. So what brought about this current impeachment notice against Fubara if peace has returned?
Obviously, the combatants are not sincere to one another. Last December, the Assembly Speaker, Amaewhule, accused Fubara of claiming falsely that he had not met with the lawmakers since the peace deal. He said the governor had met with them twice.
The key element here is the 2027 election. Tinubu and Wike do not want to lose Rivers State to the opposition. They have similar belief that power is not served a la carte. One must fight for it, grab it and run with it. And that is why two of them appear to be working harmoniously together even when they are not of the same political party. Tinubu belongs to the ruling APC while Wike belongs (at least in name) to the PDP. Never mind that a faction of the party announced sacking him in November 2025 for anti-party activities.
Just as Tinubu still controls the affairs of Lagos State even after leaving power in 2007, Wike wants to control what happens in Rivers State after he had handed over power to Fubara in 2023. He helped Tinubu to win Rivers State in 2023, though that victory was highly contentious. He wants to win the state again in 2027. Except Fubara kowtows to them, no amount of peace deals will make any impact in the state.
The fresh impeachment notice is to force Fubara to succumb to their whim. As an incumbent governor, he should be in control of his party in the state. That is the tradition.
He joined the APC to achieve that purpose and apparently to please Tinubu and the ruling party stalwarts. It will sound strange to him now that another person wants to snatch that lever of control from him. As a human being, he is kicking against this state of affairs. Some APC chieftains have seen reason with him.
I laugh when I hear some commentators asking Tinubu to sack Wike. The Federal Capital Territory Minister has done a number of things that warrant his being removed from office. But it will be a big surprise if the President should sack him. It will be a tough decision for him, except he is not interested in winning the 2027 election.
In Nigerian politics, personal interests of politicians override the general interest of the people. Tinubu knows that Wike has brought bad image for his administration. He knows that clipping his wings will bring peace in Rivers State. But between Fubara and Wike, he will sacrifice the former because that one does not have the clout to mobilize thugs or resources to grab power as desired.
I pity the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF). This organization has set up a peace and reconciliation committee headed by a former Attorney General of the Federal, Kanu Agabi (SAN). The committee was given 14 days to submit a comprehensive report that will engender amicable solution to the crisis. What will PANDEF do that Tinubu in his political manoeuvring has not done?
Will Fubara want to trade his right as governor of the state for peace? Will he just sit by and watch Wike take over the running of the state without a fight? The situation wears a hat.
Democracy is what suffers in this circumstance. The local government election that was held on August 30, 2025 was a sham. The APC won 20 LGAs while the PDP won three. It was obviously an allocation and not election. The 2027 general election may turn out the same way. This type of crisis scares investors away.
Unfortunately, the end is not in sight. The other day, four lawmakers were reported to have called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Last week, they recanted and backed the move to remove the governor and his deputy. They said they changed their position because the governor and his deputy had not shown any remorse after their appeal for amicable resolution of the crisis; and that the governor ridiculed them through his media proxies. Some water must have passed under the bridge. Who is fooling whom?
It is this kind of nonsense by politicians that truncated the First and Second Republics. When the citizens could no longer bear the shenanigans of politicians, they prayed for divine intervention. The military answered their call by sacking the then governments.
Wike has played his part as governor. Now he is the FCT Minister. He should allow Fubara to play his own part and leave the stage for others. If there is anything he forgot in the Government House, he should tell Fubara to keep it safe for him. He can go and pick that thing quietly if Fubara allows him to come. Otherwise, he should allow the governor to do the work which he was elected to do.
We fervently pray that Rivers people will rise up one day in defence of their state and collectively denounce the bad influence of godfathers in the state. We pray that other Nigerians will collectively rise up to defend our hard-won democracy. And we pray that as we march on to 2027, vote-buying, violence, harassment and intimidation of voters will be resisted. It appears a tough call, but it is doable. Tinubu and Wike should let our democracy be! Rivers people, nay Nigerians have suffered enough.
