The stalled impeachment move on Gov. Sim Fubara

 

Introduction

Governor Siminalaye Fubara of Rivers State has become a cat with nine lives having survived two previous impeachment moves by the Rivers State House of Assembly. However, another plan is afoot to impeach the ‘gentle giant’ who rode to power on the back of his predecessor, former governor Nyesom Wike. Will he and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu survive this third attempt?  The Rivers State House of Assembly first made to impeach Fubara in October 2023. In order to thwart that move, some arsonists set a section of the Assembly on fire on Sunday, October 29, 2023. The second attempt was in March 2025 few days before President Bola Tinubu declared State of Emergency in Rivers State in which the suspension order affected the entire members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the governor and the deputy governor. The SoE lasted from March 18 – September 18, 2025.

The second impeachment notice was communicated via a letter which was dated Friday, March 14, 2025 but was made public on Monday, March 17, 2025. The letter addressed to the speaker, Martin Amaewhule, titled; “Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct Brought Pursuant to Section 188 of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) 1999″, was signed by 26 members of the House. The letter accused the governor of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of the office of the governor. A separate letter was directed to the deputy. The letter accused the governor of spending public funds contrary to sections 120, 121 and 122 of the constitution.  A portion of the letter stated “that the Governor has shown that he is not prepared to govern Rivers State in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and his oath of office..”

The third and the current impeachment move happened on Thursday, January 8, 2026. The impeachment process was initiated during plenary presided over by Speaker Martins Amaewhule. The Majority Leader, Major Jack, read the notice of allegations against Governor Fubara, citing seven counts of gross misconduct. Allegations include the demolition of the Assembly complex, extra-budgetary expenditure, withholding of funds intended for the Assembly Service Commission, and alleged disobedience of a Supreme Court ruling on legislative financial autonomy. 26 lawmakers endorsed the notice.

Court offered temporary relief to Fubara and Deputy

Interestingly, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Simeon Amadi has declined to constitute a seven-man investigative panel citing legal encumbrances. The Chief Judge’s position was contained in a letter dated January 20, 2026, personally signed by him and addressed to the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule.   The CJ disclosed that his office received, on January 16 two separate interim injunctions issued by the Oyibo Division of the Rivers State High Court, sitting in Port Harcourt, restraining him from receiving, considering or acting on any impeachment-related request from the Assembly. According to the Chief Judge, the interim orders were granted in two separate suits filed by the Governor and his deputy: Suit No. OYHC/7/CS/2026 filed by Governor Fubara and Suit No. OYHC/6/CS/2026 filed by Prof. Odu. In both suits, the Chief Judge is listed as the 32nd defendant.

In the letter, Justice Amadi stated that the interim injunctions expressly barred him from acting on any communication from the lawmakers relating to the constitution of a probe panel for a period of seven days, pending further proceedings.  Justice Amadi further noted that the Assembly had already appealed the interim orders at the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, and that he had been served with the notices of appeal on January 19 and 20. He explained that by the doctrine of lis pendens, all parties, including the court, were required to await the outcome of the appeal.

“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 stated. He stressed that until the interim orders are set aside or the suits finally determined, he remains legally constrained from exercising his constitutional duty under Section 188(5) of the Constitution. “In view of the foregoing, my hand is fettered, as there are subsisting interim orders of injunction and appeal against the said orders. I am therefore legally disabled at this point from exercising my duties under Section 188(5) of the Constitution in the instant,” Justice Amadi concluded.

Chronicle of impeachment in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic

Impeachment is one of the legal provisions meant to check the excesses of the executive arm of government. Specifically, section 188 with 11 subsections provided comprehensive procedures for impeaching a governor and his deputy. In this Fourth Republic which started from May 29, 1999, there have been series of successful and attempted impeachment of governors and deputy governors. Successful ones are: Ayo Fayose was impeached as the Executive Governor of Ekiti State on 16 October 2006 on alleged mismanagement of public funds and serial killings; Peter Obi was impeached as the Executive Governor of Anambra State on 2 November 2006 on alleged gross misconduct; Joshua Dariye, was impeached as the Executive Governor of Plateau State on 13 November 2006 on alleged siphon of public fund and money laundering in London;

Rashidi Ladoja, was impeached as the Executive Governor of Oyo State on 12 January 2006;  Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was impeached as the Executive Governor of Bayelsa State on 9 December 2005 on alleged corruption which includes, theft of public funds, abuse of office, and money laundering;  Murtala Nyako was impeached as the Executive Governor of Adamawa State in July 2014 on alleged corruption which includes theft of public funds, abuse of office and money laundering.

According to The Nation newspaper of April 9, 2024, seventeen deputy governors have so far been impeached. They are: Femi Pedro (Lagos); Iyiola Omisore (Osun); Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele (Lagos); Chris Ekpenyong (Akwa Ibom); Abiodun Aluko (Ekiti); Biodun Olujinmi (Ekiti); Late Garba Gadi (Bauchi); Peremobowei Elebi (Bayelsa); and Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba). Others are:  Jude Agbaso (Imo); Sunday Onyebuchi (Enugu); Ali Olanusi (Ondo); Eze Madumere (Imo); Simon Achuba (Kogi); Rauf Olaniyan (Oyo); Mahdi Aliyu Gusau (Zamfara) and Philip Shaibu (Edo)

Interestingly, most, if not all these impeachments have been invalidated by the courts even though many of the victims were not able to go back to resume their offices due to effluxion of tenure expiration.  The courts have serially nullified these impeachments because due process was not followed by the initiators.

Interestingly, no president or vice president have been successfully impeached while some of the impeachment moves of state governors were also unsuccessful. For instance, in September 2023, the Ondo State House of Assembly served the embattled deputy governor of the state, Lucky Aiyedatiwa  an impeachment notice. It was the court and the Chief Judge of the state that saved him when he refused to constitute the 7-man panel due to a court injunction that restrained him.

The real issue behind the plot to remove governor Fubara and his deputy

Though the State House of Assembly as an independent arm of government has a right to impeach the governor and his deputy; however, the reasons they advanced for their action are ostensible. They needed to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. The real reason behind the impeachment move was that Fubara has reportedly become a prodigal godson of Wike. He is deemed disloyal to his godfather who bulldoze his way to make the former Accountant General of Rivers State the governor in 2023. Fubara’s mortal sin is believed to be his purported attempt to hijack the political structure of his estranged godfather Wike. Governor Fubara has consistently denied this.

Recall that there was a serious attempt by Fubara to reconstitute the 23 Local Government chairmen and councillors of Rivers State with his own loyalists after the end of tenure of the one elected under Wike. This attempt was rebuffed by the SHA. The Local Government election held in October 2024 was also nullified by the court for allegedly failing the integrity and due process tests. It was only the one held under the sole administrator in August 2025 in which Wike’s loyalists in All Progressives Congress won 20 LGAs and three others won under Peoples Democratic Party that are in place now. So Wike has now regained his political structure.

Godfather, Nyesom Wike has also openly alleged that Fubara sacked 10,000 of his supporters that he employed during his time in office and that several of the projects he initiated has remained uncompleted by Fubara, his successor.

The plan of Wike in allegedly instigating the current impeachment move against his godson is to do away with both the governor and his deputy in order to pave way for his staunch loyalist, the Speaker of the SHA to become acting governor. It is important to know that in most of the previous impeachments of the governor, the deputy governor is usually left out and become the acting govenor. This was the case in Bayelsa, Oyo, Anambra, Adamawa and Plateau.

The other leg of the plot is to remove the governor and deputy govern from office so that they will not get to recontest let alone winning reelection in 2027. Wike has expressed the fear that he will be buried politically if Fubara wins reelection. Despite the defection of the governor and deputy governor from PDP to APC, Wike reportedly was unhappy that Fubara did not take him into confidence before his defection and was also boasting to be the 001 in APC which makes him the leader of the party in Rivers State. Wike even had a public spat with the National Secretary of APC, Senator Ajibola Bashiru when he affirmed that the governor is the leader of APC in Rivers State.

Conclusion

It remains to be seen how the impeachment move will pan out but so far Fubara seem to have a upper hand given the obedience to court order being observed by the Rivers State CJ. There are also several behind the scene move to resolve the issues politically and fashion out an out of court settlement. Most Ijaw people are also unhappy that their kinsman who happens to be the first governor to come from the riverine area is being coerced out of office. They are waiting in the wing and hoping that their ‘son’ will survive this political onslaught.

Jide Ojo is a Development Consultant, Author and Public Affairs Analyst. I.G: @jideojong