Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, on Sunday, dismissed fears of impeachment following Friday’s Supreme Court judgment recognizing the 27 lawmakers loyal to ex-governor and minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
In its far-reaching decision on Friday, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government to halt financial aid to Rivers State unless Fubara retraced his ways and presented the budget to pro-Wike lawmakers led by Martins Amaewhule.
The court also overturned Fubara’s local government election from last year.
The Supreme Court decision placed the balance of power in the hands of Wike and parliamentarians during the state’s political crisis, which began in October 2023.
During the political crisis between Fubara and his estranged political godfather, the Rivers State House of Assembly split into two camps, with 27 lawmakers supporting Wike and four supporting Fubara.
In October 2023, the pro-Wike lawmakers attempted to impeach Fubara, but the governor countered, resulting in the destruction of the Assembly complex by a bomb explosion.
The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Fubara’s actions were illegal and ordered him to hand over the budget to pro-Wike lawmakers.
However, Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, dismissed the possibility of Fubara being impeached.
Speaking in an interview, Johnson said, “Afraid of what? The governor is on his toes, and he has the mandate of the Rivers people. The governor will obey the law, respect the sanctity of the law, and respect the opinions of Rivers people.
“We are beginning the inauguration of projects on Monday, and in the next 10 days, we will be inaugurating projects.
“The governor is not daunted by the shenanigans of detractors of the state.
“The Supreme Court didn’t remove the governor. It merely withholds the allocations of Rivers State.”
Speaking on whether Fubara will comply with the order to take the budget before the pro-Wike lawmakers, Johnson said the state government was still awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment to study it and guide its decision.
“I cannot say whether we will implement it or not. Let us see what the judgment says, evaluate it, and then we will be able to do according to the law without hurting the law or Rivers people,” Johnson said.
He emphasized that Amaewhule and 26 others were no longer members of the state Assembly.
“We got a judgment from the Rivers State High Court that said they are no longer members of the state Assembly.
“We got to the Court of Appeal, which said that a state High Court had no jurisdiction.
“If you follow this move, you will agree that obviously the Supreme Court, which is the apex court that we respect, made a pronouncement based on the facts before it,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a statewide broadcast on Sunday, Fubara urged the chairmen of the 23 local governments elected last year to give over by Monday, after the Supreme Court’s decision to invalidate the election on Friday.
The governor instructed LG chairmen to hand over their councils to the heads of local government administration.
The heads of LGs will manage the councils until a new LG poll is held. This was Fubara’s first public reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday.
The governor stated that the use of caretaker committees to run local governments was previously prohibited.
Fubara said, “Given the outlawing of caretaker arrangements in the local government system, I hereby direct the Heads of Local Government Administration to immediately take over the administration of the 23 local government councils, pending the conduct of fresh elections by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission.
“I further direct the outgoing local government chairmen to formally hand over the levers of power to the Heads of Local Government Administration by Monday, 3rd March 2025.”
