THE UNENDING CRISIS IN RIVERS

Rivers needs peace for the people to flourish

Barely three months out of emergency rule, Rivers State is once again enmeshed in political tension. Some members of the House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule, are pushing to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu over alleged misconduct. It is the third time Fubara and Odu would be threatened with impeachment since they assumed office in May 2023. After the controversial emergency rule that derailed democratic governance for six months, the impeachment gambit bodes ill for stability and good governance in the state.

Now that the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, has declined to constitute a seven-man panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy and the Oyigbo High Court has adjourned indefinitely the suit that prompted the action, we hope the lawmakers will not resort to self-help. “Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law are the bedrock of democracy and all persons and authorities are expected to obey subsisting orders of court of competent jurisdiction, irrespective of perception of its regularity or otherwise,” the Chief Judge had stated in a letter dated 20th January 2026, personally signed by him and addressed to Speaker Amaewhule.

It is unfortunate that the judiciary has been dragged into a crisis that seems simulated by vested interests and has nothing to do with the welfare of the people of Rivers State – a cosmopolitan home base of the nation’s oil and gas industry. It is also home to the nation’s second most important sea access and marine economy. As we stated in an earlier editorial, the move to impeach the governor reeks of political mischief. It showcases the assembly members as more interested in yet unstated matters than the good governance and peaceful progress of a state that remains one of the most strategic in the country.

Allegations against the governor include extra-budgetary spending to the tune of N800 billion without legislative approval, witholding funds allocated to the Assembly Service Commission, demolition of the Assembly complex and defiance of the Supreme Court rulings on legislative autonomy. Ordinarily, these are weighty charges, and we are on the side of accountability. But given its timing, insinuations abound that the impeachment move is being fuelled largely by the politics of the 2027 general election and the unabashed squabble over control of public resources and ‘political structure’. Indeed, the renewed crisis is again attributed to the fallout between Fubara and his predecessor in office, Nyesom Wike, currently the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister.

In a presidential intervention that has not resolved the logjam, Fubara was on 18th March last year suspended for a period of six months along with his deputy and all members of the state House of Assembly. In place of the elected officials, President Bola Tinubu appointed a retired naval officer, Ibok-Ette Ibas as the sole administrator. With the expiration of the six-month emergency rule last September and the return of elected officials, including the governor, deputy and House of Assembly members, a semblance of normalcy returned to Rivers State. But the relative peace in the state is again being threatened by the clashing interests and inordinate ambitions of politicians.

In Rivers State today, governance is now practically in abeyance as politicians fight over turf. Port Harcourt, the state’s capital, is said to be currently experiencing a severe waste management crisis, with uncollected garbage piling up on major roads, in markets, and along residential streets, posing serious health risks. Yet, the state boasts of enormous resources in its coffers as attested to by the governor and other stakeholders.

What the House members must understand is that Nigeria is increasingly being marked down as a country where a constitutional instrument like impeachment which is meant to enthrone accountability and enhance good governance has become a weapon of mischief and blackmail. But the ultimate victims of this unfortunate state of affairs are the ordinary people who are denied good governance. We hope it is not too late for the recalcitrant lawmakers in Rivers State to give a peace a chance.