Fubara Impeachment Suspended by Rivers Assembly

The Rivers State House of Assembly has suspended impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.

The decision was announced on Thursday during plenary at the Assembly’s resumed sitting in Port Harcourt, following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu earlier this month.

Lawmakers had earlier begun impeachment steps at their first session of 2026, citing allegations of gross misconduct against both officials.

During that sitting, the Majority Leader, Major Jack, presented a notice outlining the claims, which included the demolition of the Assembly complex, alleged extra-budgetary expenditures, withholding of funds due to the Assembly Service Commission, and failure to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on legislative financial autonomy. 

The House said the action was initiated under Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

In a letter dated January 16, 2026, the Assembly asked the state Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, to constitute a seven-member panel to investigate the allegations. 

However, the Chief Judge declined, explaining that a subsisting High Court order restrained him from taking further steps.

Fubara and Odu had approached a High Court in Port Harcourt to challenge the impeachment process and secured injunctions barring the Chief Judge from acting on the Assembly’s request or setting up the investigative panel. 

Justice Amadi also informed the lawmakers that the Speaker and the Assembly had filed an appeal against the restraining order.

The impeachment push came shortly after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused the governor of failing to honour a political truce brokered in 2025 by President Tinubu.