The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the 27 members of the House of Assembly aligned with former Gov. Nyesom Wike, and now Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to commence impeachment process on Gov Similanayi Fubara.
The call was made by state party chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, at a press briefing in Port Harcourt, Tuesday.
Okocha alleged some impeachable infractions against the governor as basis for the call. He accused the governor of not recognizing the constitutional separation of power principle between the executive, judiciary, and legislature.
On Monday, Gov. Fubara received a delegation of political leaders from Bayelsa state on a solidarity visit to him. Fubara, while addressing them, boasted that the 27 members of the state assembly were only there at his mercy, and when he so decides, he will withdraw recognition of them as lawmakers.
In December 2023, the 27 members had decamped from the ruling PDP to the opposition APC in the state, and going by the constitution may be deemed to have lost their seats. However, the matter is still in court.
Basis For Impeachment
Okocha on Tuesday, insisted the governor had no power to make such a statement. “What section of the constitution empowers the Governor to declare the Assembly non-existent?, he queried.
Mind you the Assembly we are talking about is a representative of the people, they were duly elected. They are not his appointees. So where did the Governor derive his powers to say that the Assembly is non-existent?
He does not respect the law. He does anything he cares to do. We will not sit here as Rivers people to see Rivers State become a laughing stock in the comity of states when we have a Governor who does not know his left from his right.
He called the governor a “dunderhead”, whose head has “become bigger than his pillow”.
Replying to Okocha, the Rivers Commissioner for Information, Mr. Joseph Johnson, disputed Okocha’s authority as the APC Chairman. He defended the governor’s statement, insisting the defected lawmakers had forfeited their seats according to law, hence do not belong to any House of Assembly.
LG Chairmen Back APC
On Wednesday, 21 Local Government Area chairmen threw their weight behind the APC position, thereby dragging Mr. Fubara deeper into the troubled political waters of Rivers state.
Addressing pressmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, the Chairmen accused the governor of “executive high-handedness” and of withholding LGA funds.
Hon. Allwell Ihunda, chairman of Port Harcourt City LGA, speaking on behalf of others said,
It has come to the notice of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) Rivers State Chapter that the Rivers State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, GSSRS, has neglected, failed and deliberately refused to hold the statutory Joint Account Allocation Committee Meeting (JAAC) …thereby starving the third tier of the government of the funds required to discharge its statutory functions in the administration of the Local Government Areas.
He then tacitly echoed the call for impeachment,
We call on the Honourable Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to take appropriate steps to check the excesses of the Governor of Rivers State and ensure the survival and sustenance of democratic institutions in Rivers State.
Will Fubara Survive?
Gov. Fubara previously served as the state’s Accountant-General. He is a pure-breed technocrat who never set his eyes – at least publicly – on political office. He was helped into office as governor by his benefactor, the thoroughbred politician, Nyesom Wike – now occupying a powerful office at the federal level. Wike reportedly wants Fubara out, but it will be intriguing to see if Fubara can successfully navigate the murky waters and survive with the instrumentality of power of incumbency, or whether the minister’s camp will prevail.
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