Political tension in Rivers State rose sharply on Thursday as members of the State House of Assembly begin another impeachment proceedings against the State governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
This is the third time the assembly is attempting to impeach the governor since he fell out with the Federal Capital Territory FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike who facilitated his emergence as governor.
The first was in October 2023, five months after Fubara took office. The attendant commotion then had allegedly led to the bombing of the legislative chambers of the House of Assembly.
The lawmakers also plotted another impeachment early last year before President Bola Tinubu intervened with a state of emergency which ousted both the Executive and Legislative arms of government for six months.
Since returning from the emergency regime,the lawmakers have remained restive and mounting pressure on the governor.
On their first plenary on resumption after the emergency rule, the assembly requested for the list of commissioner nominees and supplementary budget from the governor.
They also shunned state functions where they were statutorily expected to feature.
However what appeared to have stoked the animosity is the N100,000 Christmas bonus the governor approved for all civil and public servants across board. The lawmakers rejected the bonus, claiming that the governor had committed impeachable offence by spending funds not approved by the House of Assembly.
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The impeachment process which the lawmakers began on Thursday was not expected since majority of the lawmakers have now crossed over to the All Progressive Congress, APC, alongside the governor signalling as it were, a resolve to collectively work for the reelection of President Bola Tinubu.
Moreso, the lawmakers had adjourned plenary and went on Christmas break, scheduling to resume on 23 January 2026.
By unexpectedly cutting short their recess and resuming with an impeachment process against the governor, the lawmakers is unarguably chorusing the refrain of the FCT Minister who has been going round the State to canvass for a one term ticket for the governor.
As at press time, details of the impeachment process remained sketchy as the venue of the lawmakers sitting at their residential quarters is restricted.
