March 17, 2025
By Idris Buba
The Rivers State House of Assembly has served a notice of alleged misconduct in performance in office against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu.
According to the notice the lawmakers claimed the action was in line with the Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as amended.
The notice reads, “In compliance with Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and other extant laws, we the undersigned members of the Rivers State House of Assembly hereby forward to you a Notice of Gross Misconduct by the Deputy Governor of Rivers State in the performance of the functions of her office.”
Upon receipt of the notice, Amaewhule forwarded the same to Governor Fubara and said the allegation was raised by 26 lawmakers “which is not less than one-third (1/3) of the membership of the Rivers State House of Assembly”.
Speaker Amaewhule asked Fubara to “reply to the allegations made against you in the said Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct accordingly”.
He said, “In doing this, your attention is drawn to the provisions of Section 188(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which provides thus: ‘Within 14 days of the presentation of the notice to the Speaker of the House of Assembly (whether or not any statement made by holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice) the House of Assembly shall resolve by motion, without any debate whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.’
“Please be guided accordingly and do accept my esteemed regards.”
Similarly, the Deputy Governor, Professor Odu, was also accused of gross misconduct in the performance of her duties, although the specific allegations against her were not detailed in the notice.
The move by the Assembly is seen as a significant escalation of the political crisis in Rivers State, which has been simmering for weeks.
Governor Fubara, has been at loggerheads with his predecessor and minister of the federal capital territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike and his loyalists in the House of Assembly, with previous attempts by the lawmakers to impeach him resulting in physical confrontations and security tensions in the state.
READ MORE; Governor Fubara Denied Access To Meet With Lawmakers.
Although the governor is yet to responded to the allegations, political watchers in the state, suggested that the move could either lead to his impeachment or further aggravate the existing tension between the warring factions in the state.
The minister of FCT, was quoted recently quoted, saying he will not prevent the lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional responsibility.
The supreme court had on March 3, 2025, recognized the Martins Amaewhule’s led 26 lawmakers as the duly constituted Assembly, insisted that the governor must submit the 2025 fiscal plan before them for legislative scrutiny.
Governor Fubara had previously presented the N1.1 trillion 2025 fiscal plan before the faction of lawmakers led by Victor Oko-Jumbo and was signed the into law on January 2, by the governor.
