The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said that if the Rivers State House of Assembly believes that Governor Siminalayi Fubara has violated the constitution, they should proceed with impeachment.
Speaking in a media interview on Wednesday, Wike asserted that impeachment was a constitutional process and not a criminal act. He dismissed concerns that the removal of the governor would lead to pandemonium, asserting, “If you have committed a breach of the constitution, and the Assembly finds it fit to say you should be impeached, so be it. Nothing will happen.”
The former Rivers governor criticized Fubara’s handling of his strained relationship with the State Assembly, particularly his issuance of a public letter seeking an audience with lawmakers regarding the Supreme Court ruling of the state’s political crisis. Wike labeled the letter “useless,” arguing that the governor could have gone to Speaker Martins Amaewhule directly instead of making a public display.
“You have had a cold relationship with a branch of government. If you are a good politician, would you write a letter? What an insult! Politicians know how to talk,” Wike said.
The conflict between Fubara and Rivers Assembly has been intensified since his tension with Wike, his predecessor and former political benefactor. The minister emphasized that peace in the state would be achieved only through good governance, contending, “What’s more important than ensuring the right things are done? When justice is served, peace follows.”
Wike also berated Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Adolphus Enebeli, whom he appointed, as “one of the most corrupt individuals I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.” He claimed that Enebeli evaded Assembly summons and went to the state High Court seeking judicial protection. At the same time, there was heightened tension in Port Harcourt on Wednesday when security officials prevented Governor Fubara and his delegation from entering the Assembly quarters, where he was to read the 2025 budget. The Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly has been conducting its sittings at the quarters since the Assembly complex was razed by fire in October 2023.
Fubara, who addressed newsmen in front of the barricaded compound, indicated that he had actually written to the Speaker and attempted several telephone calls, all of which were turned down. “Before I paid my visit, I made several phone calls in an attempt to reach the Speaker and other colleagues. I even wrote a private letter, faxed to the Honourable Speaker.”. But it is unfortunate that the state is completely closed down, and there is no sign of anything happening today,” he lamented. The Rivers political crisis hits deeper, and the issue of governance stability in the oil-rich state comes to the fore.
