‘Fubara A Mistake for Rivers’ – Lawmakers

The Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, has accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of gross misconduct, describing his administration as a serious mistake for the state.

The move followed the Assembly’s decision to reconvene earlier than planned for the impeachment proceedings against Siminalayi Fubara, abandoning an initial schedule to resume plenary on January 26.  At Thursday’s sitting, presided over by Amaewhule, the Majority Leader, Major Jack, read a notice detailing allegations against the governor. The notice, endorsed by 26 lawmakers, accused Fubara of actions said to contravene provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

Among the allegations, the lawmakers claimed that the governor converted state funds into foreign currency and allegedly paid individuals from Abuja to lobby President Bola Tinubu to prevent the Assembly from summoning him to present the 2026 budget.

Amaewhule said the notice would be served on the governor within seven days in accordance with constitutional requirements, stressing that the impeachment process had officially begun and that his role was to transmit the notice as mandated by law.

He further stated that any attempt by the governor to present the appropriation bill or the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework while the allegations were being investigated would not stop the process.

According to him, Fubara had persistently failed to present a budget and would have done so earlier if he truly intended to.

The Speaker explained that the core of the alleged gross misconduct centred on the governor’s refusal to present a budget and on expenditures allegedly made outside the appropriation law. He added that the Assembly had resolved to allow investigations into the allegations against the governor and his deputy to run their full course before any further legislative engagement on budgetary matters.

“The particulars of gross misconduct have a lot to do with refusal to present a budget and spending outside the appropriation law.

“There is a notice, and the process of impeachment is on, and having received it, my job is to forward it, and it is important that we allow this process to go through.

“The motion says that in the event that the governor tries, as he has always tried to do, to be smart by half, to now say he wants to bring the appropriation bill, or to present the medium-term expenditure framework, the movers of the motion say, Let him hold on and allow the investigation of the allegation brought against him and the deputy governor to be concluded.”

Amaewhule further accused Fubara of undermining the legislature, alleging that the governor had claimed he could always seek presidential intervention to restrain the Assembly and had allegedly referred to the 10th Rivers State House of Assembly as a “toothless bulldog.”

He also criticised the administration for failing to present the 2026 appropriation bill, noting that Rivers and its deputy governor were the only sub-national government officials yet to submit a budget proposal for the year. He described the situation as unprecedented and damaging to democratic governance.

“Siminalayi Fubara is a mistake; Rivers State has never had it this bad. In the entirety of Nigeria, Siminalayi Fubara and the deputy governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, are the only ones in office at the sub-national level that are yet to present the 2026 appropriation bill in the entire country.”

According to the Speaker, the governor and his deputy constituted a threat to democracy if allowed to remain in office without accountability. He added that several attempts had been made to resolve the political crisis through meetings involving President Tinubu and the former governor of Rivers State and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, but said the refusal to present the budget ultimately triggered the impeachment move.