![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot_20250317-192537_1-300x269.jpg\")
Gov of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
The current political turmoil which has given rise to two factions of the party in Rivers State led to separate statements issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday leading to opposing stances on the Assembly’s renewed move to impeach governor Fubara, with the Tony Okocha-led faction which is backed by the APC’s national leadership supporting the impeachment proceedings, while the Emeka Beke-led faction backed by the Court rejecting the move. <\/p>\n
The Rivers State House of Assembly led by Martin Amaehwule had on Thursday commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Professor Odu, citing allegations of gross misconduct, including the demolition of the Assembly complex and unauthorized spending. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot_20250310-081645_1-1-283x300.jpg\")
Speaker Rt Hon Martin Amaewhule<\/p><\/div>
\nThe lawmakers during plenary vowed that they must impeach both Governor Fubara and his deputy or they will all resign, with the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, announcing that the impeachment notices will be served on the governor and his deputy within seven days.<\/p>\n
The Tony Okocha faction in a statement by Mr. Jacobs Chimezie Happiness, Media aide to the state party Chairman, described the impeachment process against the governor as constitutionally sound, citing Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the State House of Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against a governor alleged to have committed gross misconduct. <\/p>\n
The statement claimed that Fubara’s alleged unlawful expenditure of state funds without legislative appropriation constitutes gross misconduct. <\/p>\n
The Okocha led APC, said “the Assembly’s move was firmly anchored on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and reinforced by authoritative decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
“It is a constitutional response to grave allegations of gross misconduct, particularly the unlawful expenditure of Rivers State funds without legislative appropriation, and not an exercise in political vendetta.<\/p>\n
“The Constitution establishes strict legislative control over public finance. Section 120(2) provides that no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of a State except in the manner prescribed by the House of Assembly. Section 121 requires that all state expenditure for each financial year must be authorized by an Appropriation Law duly passed by the House of Assembly, while Section 122 permits limited spending only in narrowly circumscribed situations and does not sanction continuous or discretionary expenditure without legislative approval. Any sustained deviation from this constitutional framework amounts to fiscal lawlessness and a breach of the supreme law of the land.<\/p>\n
“Against this backdrop, the commencement of impeachment proceedings by the Rivers State House of Assembly is a lawful, measured, and constitutionally sanctioned step. <\/p>\n
“Impeachment proceedings do not amount to a finding of guilt; rather, they activate the investigative and adjudicatory process prescribed by Section 188 of the Constitution, including the constitution of an impartial panel and the right of the governor to defend himself. What would amount to a dereliction of constitutional duty is for the House of Assembly to ignore credible allegations of unconstitutional spending and executive lawlessness.<\/p>\n
“In a constitutional democracy founded on the supremacy of the Constitution, accountability in the management of public funds is non-negotiable. The action of the Rivers State House of Assembly therefore represents fidelity to constitutional governance, respect for Supreme Court authority, and a commitment to safeguarding the resources and democratic institutions of Rivers State”.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, Darlington Nwauju, spokesperson of the Emeka Beke-led faction has strongly rejected the fresh impeachment process initiated against Governor Fubara, describing it as “unfortunate” and an attempt to destabilize the APC-led government in Rivers State.<\/p>\n
Nwauju in a statement acknowledged that the legislature is an independent arm of government, but expressed concerns over the developments, stating that the impeachment process is untenable and should be rejected.<\/p>\n
The statement highlighted that a budget of \u20a61.485 trillion was approved by the National Assembly in 2025, valid until August 2026, and that the governor has the constitutional right to operate within a six-month spending window into the new fiscal year.<\/p>\n
“Our position as at today on this matter is that, we solemnly reject the resort to an impeachment process against our Governor and his deputy.<\/p>\n
“It will be totally untenable for our party to keep quiet when an obvious hangover from strifes that occurred within the PDP are allowed to resurface in our great party.<\/p>\n
“It is important to say to Rivers people and Nigerians that since the latest threat of impeachment centers on the budget, may we remind ourselves that under the period of emergency rule, a budget was transmitted to the National Assembly by the President and Commander-in-Chief in May 2025 which was approved by the Senate on 25 June 2025 and subsequently by the House of Representatives on July 22 2025 for a total sum of #1.485 trillion.<\/p>\n
“Interestingly, this budget is for one year and should run uptil August 2026 and if the Governor is comfortable with the composition of the said budget, he may elect not to present any supplementary budget. Besides, the constitution allows for a six-months spending window into the new fiscal year by a state governor.<\/p>\n
“We therefore strongly advise all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly especially APC members, to resist pressures from outside the Assembly chambers to destabilize the Government of Rivers state ably led by His Excellency Sir Sir Siminalayi Fubara. <\/p>\n
“Let it be known that our party will do everything possible to ensure that the Government of Rivers State, which is an APC government, is not destabilized through fratricidal disagreements. <\/p>\n
He however, advised APC members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to resist external pressures and discontinue the impeachment process, warning that the APC will do everything possible to ensure the Government of Rivers State, led by Governor Fubara, is not destabilized through fratricidal disagreements, and urged members to prioritize the party’s image and the state’s progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent Ahead of 2027 general elections in the country, Rivers state Assembly has commenced fresh impeachment process against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof Mrs. Ngozi Odu leading to division among the rulling All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state. The current political turmoil which has given rise to two factions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3052,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4088,657,5852,5853,672,5854,3549,3927],"class_list":["post-10089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-absolute","tag-administration","tag-faith","tag-infinite","tag-leadership","tag-mercy","tag-supporting","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10089"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10102,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10089\/revisions\/10102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}