Rivers Assembly Suspends Fubara’s Impeachment

The Rivers State House of Assembly has stopped the impeachment process it began against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, after the intervention of President Bola Tinubu earlier this month.

The decision was taken during plenary on Thursday when lawmakers resumed sitting in the state capital.

The Assembly had earlier initiated impeachment proceedings at its first sitting of 2026, accusing the governor and his deputy of gross misconduct. During that session, the Majority Leader read out a notice outlining several allegations against them.

The claims included the demolition of the Assembly complex, spending outside the approved budget, withholding funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, and failure to comply with a Supreme Court judgment on the financial autonomy of the legislature.

The lawmakers said their action was in line with Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

Following the notice, the Assembly wrote to the state Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, requesting the constitution of a seven-member panel to investigate the allegations.

However, the Chief Judge declined to act on the request, citing a subsisting High Court order that restrained him from taking further steps on the matter.

Governor Fubara and his deputy had approached the High Court in Port Harcourt to challenge the impeachment process and obtained injunctions preventing the Chief Judge from setting up the investigative panel. The Speaker and the Assembly later filed an appeal against the restraining order.

The impeachment move came shortly after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused the governor of failing to honour a peace deal brokered in 2025 by President Tinubu to resolve the political crisis in the state.

Earlier this month, President Tinubu met separately with Fubara and Wike at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in an effort to calm tensions. After the meeting, there were indications that steps were being taken to resolve the dispute.

With Thursday’s decision, the Assembly has now put the impeachment proceedings on hold, signaling a pause in the political standoff that has gripped Rivers State in recent months.