Connect with us

Politics

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has asked the 27 members of the House of Assembly loyal to Nyesom Wike, Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to commence impeachment procerding against Governor Similanayi Fubara.

Published

on

Governor Sim Fubara

 

Caretaker Committee Chairman of APC in the state, Chief Tony Okocha, made the call at a press conference in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday.

He said the governor has committed so many impeachable offences, hence the need to commence his impeachment process.

Okocha faulted the governor’s remark when he received a delegation of Ijaw leaders from Bayelsa state, on Monday.

Fubara had said the state House of Assembly was non existent.

Okocha said the Nigeria constitution recognized the three arms of government such as the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative, saying the governor has no constitutional power to declare duly elected members of the state Assembly non-existent.

He said, “We have directed members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to commence the impeachment process of a comatose government. The Governor’s head has become bigger than his pillow. He does not respect the law. He does anything he cares to do. We will not sit here as Rivers people to see Rivers State become a laughing stock in the comity of states, when we have a Governor who does not know his left from his right.

“A state as crucial and all important as Rivers State churned out a dunderhead. We cannot accept that. Our charge to the Assembly is to immediately commence an impeachment. And if they don’t do that there is what they call party discipline. We shall invoke the relevant section of the constitution.

“You know the history of politics. You know the constitution of Nigeria. The Governor said the Assembly members do not exist, that whatever thing they are doing is because he allowed them. In other words he has re-written the books. Elementary politics taught us the three organs of government and their roles. And goes further to talk about the separation of powers and checks and balances. Now what the Governor was implying clearly is that he is ruling Rivers State without laws.

“That Rivers State runs on executive arm and judiciary. So what that implies is simply absurdity. You can now see the tendencies of a dictator. As an opposition party in Rivers State, we will not keep quiet, we will shout. It is regrettable that the Governor has taken up to this point and we will not take it. The Governor was clear whether unambiguous in his deliberate attempt to denigrate the person of Mr President.

“All these while he has been sponsoring people to challenge the power of the President in the proclamation made by the President. The Governor said that the President’s intervention in Rivers State which he signed was not constitutional but a political solution. But he assented to it, not under duress. The agreement was signed in a friendly environment and the Governor assented to the proclamation and had the opportunity to speak where he thanked Mr President. So nobody forced him to sign the proclamation, he did it willingly. So at what point did the governor realize that the resolution was a political matter?

“The issue again to ask is each of those items for us to drive this home. Nine Commissioners resigned and they were brought back. Then you now began to talk about constitutional issues when the President advised you not to interfere in the funding of the State Assembly. Another area of the Constitution which the President delved into was the conduct of local government elections and the representation of the budget. Among these issues raised, which of these is the Governor talking about that is not constitutional?.

“What section of the constitution empowers the Governor to declare the Assembly non-existent? The role of the Governor is proclamation of the Assembly which is done once in four years. The constitution doesn’t allow him for quarterly proclamation of the Assembly. He dissolved the House and proclaimed the Assembly at the end of the tenure of the Assembly. Mind you the Assembly we are talking about is a representative of the people, they were duly elected. They are not his appointees. So where did the Governor derive his powers to say that the Assembly is non-existent.

“Meanwhile records are there about the correspondences between the Governor and the Assembly wherein he addressed Martin Amaewhule as the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. We want this to be on record as the Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, as the representative of Mr President, we won’t sit here to see the Governor declare on his own as if he is in court.

“He has become Daniel, who is sitting in judgement to declare the Assembly members’ seat vacant. To that extent in consultation with my party, we have directed and we are directing the Assembly members and as APC members who are in the Assembly to immediately commence the impeachment of Governor Sim Fubara.”

Reacting, Rivers Commissioner for Information, Mr Joseph Johnson, said Okocha is not the Chairman of APC in Rivers State.

“In our jurisprudence the 27 lawmakers have lost their seat on the day they defected to another party that’s what the law says. The Constitution of federal Republic of Nigeria section 109 clearly stated that and it’s incontrovertible. The law says you cannot put something on nothing.

“There is nothing at all to even put on something. The Rivers State House of Assembly does not exist, they are none existent. The governor said yesterday that they does not exist but out of his magnanimity has allowed them he even gone further to draw them closer but it does not appear that they don’t understand.”

 

Politics

Accord Party Crisis Deepens As Another Governorship Candidate Emerges For Osun Polls

Published

on

A faction of Accord Party has held its own governorship primary, where Mr. Clement Bamigbola emerged as the faction’s governorship candidate for the 2026 Osun State election.

This is coming just four days after the emergence of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s flag-bearer.

Recall that the party under the leadership of Maxwell Mgbudem, on Wednesday, held a similar exercise which produced Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s candidate.

However, a faction of the party rejected his emergence, insisting that Barrister Maxwell Mgbudem is not the legally recognized national chairman of the Accord Party.

In a fresh development on Sunday, about 300 delegates of the Accord Party from across Osun State elected Bamigbola as the factional candidate during a primary held at Regina Suite, Osogbo.

Bamigbola emerged through a voice vote conducted by the delegates, after which the Chairman of the Primary Committee, Hon. Olufemi Ogundare, declared him the party’s candidate for the 2026 Osun State governorship election.

 

Continue Reading

Politics

Tinubu, ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja over Benin coup, regional stability

Published

on

President Bola Tinubu and leaders of ECOWAS countries are currently meeting in Abuja.

The 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government is taking place at the State House Conference Centre, in Abuja.

Leaders of West African countries at the meeting include President Julius Bio (Sierra Leone, ECOWAS Chair), President Patrice Talon (Benin), José Maria Neves (Cabo Verde) and Alassane Ouattara (Côte d’Ivoire).

Others are Adama Barrow (The Gambia), John Mahama (Ghana), Umaro Embaló (Guinea-Bissau), Joseph Boakai (Liberia), Bassirou Faye (Senegal) and Faure Gnassingbé (Togo).

The meeting is coming against the backdrop of five turbulent years for West Africa, which saw coups in Mali (2020, 2021), Burkina Faso (twice in 2022), and Niger (2023).

The latest incidents include an attempted coup in Benin on December 7, 2025, and renewed instability in Guinea-Bissau.

At the time of filing this report, details of the meeting are yet to be disclosed.

Continue Reading

Politics

Breaking: Diri Orders Autopsy on Bayelsa Deputy Governor’s Death, Warns Against Politicisation

Published

on

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of death of the state’s Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

Governor Diri gave the directive on Saturday while receiving former President Goodluck Jonathan at the Government House in Yenagoa.

Ewhrudjakpo reportedly collapsed in his office on Thursday and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Reacting to the incident, the governor condemned what he described as widespread misinformation and speculation on social media, warning against any attempt to politicise the deputy governor’s death.

“I want to make an appeal. I have seen people politicise his death. In Ijaw land, there is no enmity in death. Let nobody politicise the passing of our dearly beloved deputy governor,” Diri said.

“If anyone truly loves him, this is the time to show it. I have directed that an autopsy be carried out to reveal the cause of his death. There is a lot of nonsense going on on social media.”

The governor further urged the public to focus on mourning and honouring the late deputy governor, noting that the state government had declared three working days of mourning in his honour.

“If anyone is issuing statements to eulogise him, let it end there. Let us mourn him because Bayelsa State is in a mourning mood,” he added.

Governor Diri also called for unity and love among the people, reminding them of the inevitability of death.

Speaking during the condolence visit, former President Goodluck Jonathan described the late Ewhrudjakpo as a committed and dedicated individual who played a key role in the activities of his foundation.

“For me, he was someone my foundation and I will never forget. He represented the governor in all our programs,” Jonathan said, adding that Ewhrudjakpo worked tirelessly in that role, even more than when he served as deputy governor.

Continue Reading

Trending