Rivers Crisis: Amaewhule’s Assembly, Fubara’s commissioners flex muscles

By Daniel Abia, Davies Iheamnachor, Emem Idio

The political crisis rocking Rivers State appears to be unending. The state House of Assembly, led by Mr. Martin Amaewhule, has asked Governor Siminialayi Fubara to sack all commissioners within 48 hours and submit a new list of nominees for appointment within the same time.

But in swift reaction, the state government said the 27 lawmakers were acting on the figment of their imagination, overstepping their bounds, and heating up the polity even more with their demands.

This came as Governor Fubara, yesterday, denied receiving any letter from the Amaewhule-led House, which gave him a 48-hour ultimatum to present the 2025 budget before the House.

Also, the state deputy governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, has debunked the rumour that she has resigned from her position following the rising political tension in the state.

In compliance with the Supreme Court verdict, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), yesterday, fixed August 9, 2025, for a fresh local government election in the state.

Meanwhile, a prominent Niger Delta leader and traditional ruler, Asari Dokubo asked President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the 27 lawmakers in Rivers State, urging them to abandon any plans to impeach Fubara.

Also, Ijaw youths under the umbrella of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide have warned that they would not stand idly by and watch political gimmicks unfold in Rivers State with the sole intent of truncating the administration of Governor Fubara.

The Amaewhule Assembly, in a letter yesterday addressed to the governor, demanded the sack of all 19 commissioners and political appointees who were not screened by them and requested that a fresh list of nominees be forwarded to the Assembly for proper screening.

The letter read: “Your attention should once again be drawn to your illegal appointments of persons to serve in various offices without forwarding their names for screening and confirmation as required by the 1999 Constitution as amended and other extant laws.”
Amaewhule specifically frowned at the governor’s inability to forward the name of Dagogo Iboroma for screening as Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in the state, stating that such an appointment contravenes Section 192 (2) and (5) as well as Section 195 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The letter requested that the governor submit a list of nominees for appointment as commissioners into the Rivers State Executive Council, as well as a list of nominees for appointments to fill vacancies in all offices, within 48 hours.

They’ve overstepped their bounds – Commissioner for Environment

Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Sydney Tambari, while reacting, said that the 27 lawmakers were acting on the figment of their imagination, adding that they were overstepping their bounds and heating up the polity even more.

Tambari explained that all the commissioners were screened by the then Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Edison Ehie, now Chief of Staff, Government House, who was recognized by a competent court as the authentic Speaker of the House.

According to the former Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, “I was screened by Edison Ehie, who was duly recognized by the court as the speaker of the state House of Assembly. Before then, this group of people had defected from the PDP and went to wherever they went to.

“After Edison Ehie’s resignation, Mr. Victor Oko-Jumbo took over as Speaker of the House and he screened and confirmed some of the commissioners and appointees. The governor cannot send any fresh list of nominees to this Assembly.

“Their demand for the sacking of the commissioners has been overtaken by events because all the commissioners and political appointees were duly screened. The governor has no reason to send a list of nominees to them.”

Tambari took a swipe at the lawmakers, saying they were acting outside the decision of the Supreme Court, which talked about the 2024 budget and “not to come and sack commissioners and political appointees in the state. The presentation of the budget is at the discretion of the governor, which has since been overtaken by events.”

I’ve not resigned as deputy governor — Prof. Odu

The office of the deputy governor, yesterday, dismissed the false and misleading reports circulating online suggesting that Prof. Odu had thrown in the towel.

A statement by Owupele Benebo, Head of Press, deputy governor’s office, said: “Contrary to these baseless claims, Her Excellency remains committed to her duties as Deputy Governor, a position she was duly elected to serve alongside Governor Fubara.

“As a seasoned public servant and academic, Prof. Odu is dedicated to supporting the governor in his efforts to deliver the dividends of democracy to the good people of Rivers State.

“Her exemplary leadership and expertise have been invaluable to the administration, and she remains steadfast in her commitment and support for Governor Fubara.”

The statement urged the public to disregard these unfounded reports, which were clearly the product of malicious speculation, as “Prof. Odu has not resigned and has no intention of doing so.”

Rivers judiciary denies report of 1-year annual leave for CJ

The Rivers State Judiciary has denied the report that the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Simon Amadi, would be proceeding on annual leave today.

The denial came following an unconfirmed report that the CJ had been ordered by the governor to leave the country to arm-twist the Amaewhule-led state House of Assembly in their alleged plot to impeach the governor.
The judiciary, in a statement in Port Harcourt by David Ihua-Maduenyi, Chief Registrar, High Court, said the report of the annual leave was false and misleading.

The statement read: “The attention of the Rivers State Judiciary has been drawn to a publication captioned ‘BREAKING: Rivers State Chief Judge Embarks on One-Year Recess Leave,’ which alleged that the Chief Judge of Rivers State is set to embark on a one-year recess leave.

“The Rivers State Judiciary categorically and unequivocally refutes this malicious, misleading, false, and baseless allegation against the person and office of the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Amadi.

RSIEC fixes August 9 for LG elections

Meanwhile, arising from the stakeholders’ meeting in its secretariat yesterday, the state electoral commission, RSIEC, announced August 9, 2025, as the date to conduct a fresh local government election in the 23 local government areas of the state.

Justice Enebeli noted that, by Section 5 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law 12 of 2018, the electoral body is saddled with the responsibility of providing guidelines for political parties and stipulating the rules and procedures for electioneering campaigns for local government elections.

“There shall be a local government council election on August 9, 2025, in all the 23 LGAs of Rivers State. RSIEC is mandated by law to fix the date for elections in the state,” he said.

Rivers Assembly Summons RSIEC Chairman Over 2024 LG Poll

Meanwhile, the State House of Assembly yesterday summoned the Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Enebeli, to appear before it within 48 hours over the conduct of the October 5, 2024, local government elections.

During plenary, presided over by its Speaker, Amaewhule, the House threatened to issue a warrant for the arrest of the RSIEC Chairman if he fails to appear before the House at the expiration of the ultimatum.

Asari warns against impeachment threat

Asari Dokubo, who is the Da-Amakiri Tubo and Amanyanabo of the Elem Kalabari Kingdom, made his position clear during a live broadcast on Facebook.

He cautioned that any move to remove Fubara from office could destabilize the state and lead to political unrest.

We’ll resist any attempt to truncate Fubara’s tenure — Ijaw Youths

Also, the spokesman of IYC Worldwide, Amb. Binebai Princewill, in a statement yesterday, said:
“We are using this medium to inform everyone in the Nigerian State that the Ijaws will not stand idly by and watch political gimmicks unfold in Rivers State with the sole intent of truncating the administration of Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, an illustrious son of the Ijaw nation.

“For the Ijaw people, this goes beyond mere politics; it has taken an ethnic dimension. We will not allow any ethnic group in Rivers State to hijack and truncate our Ijaw tenure. This is a fight we are prepared to wage with every fiber of our being. We stand fully in line with the Ijaw National Congress (INC) on this matter.

“The Ijaw struggle for liberation in the Nigerian State led to the creation of Rivers State in 1967. It is no secret that the economic viability of the state is entirely dependent on Ijaw areas. Our people have sacrificed by uniting everyone in the state, supporting governors from other ethnic groups until this moment, when an Ijaw son, Governor Fubara, now leads.

Group calls on INC, IYC, others to refrain from threats

The South-South Reawakening Group (SSRG) has called on the INC, IYC, and other organizations in the Niger Delta to refrain from threatening violence over the political crisis in Rivers State.

Joseph Ambakederimo, Convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, in a statement in Port Harcourt, said:
“We enjoin our people to at all times abide by dialogue and follow through with due process to resolve political misunderstandings. We are sounding this warning, especially when the Governor himself has pledged to abide by the Supreme Court judgment and implement the same to the letter. “The Governor’s position is the right thing to do and what every responsible democrat should do. Therefore, any other extraneous approach should be discountenanced at this time.”

Ambakederimo said that the era of vandalizing oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta region was outdated and such thoughts should be divorced from everyone’s mind, while dialogue should be the way to go, and “reason should provide for us the pathway forward.”

Many shot as gunmen attack alleged gov’s supporter

Meanwhile, no fewer than eight people were shot by some individuals identified to be members of a local vigilante group in Elele Town, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Although, Police in state said that four people were shot in the incident, yesterday, at Elele around-about on the Port Harcourt-Owerri Road, it was gathered that the gunmen, suspected to be members of Elele Security Planning and Advisory Committee, ESPAC, had swopped on some youths of the area, who were discussing the political crisis in the state and opened fire on them.

At press time, it was not clear the reason for the shooting, but it was gathered that eight people sustained bullet wounds.

A source in the area, who did not disclose his name, alleged: “This is happening now in Elele town, Ikwerre LGA, where the OSPAC commander of Elele, who incidentally is the leader of a faction of PDP in Elele, came out and opened fire arms on the supporters of the state governor. A number of them are in the hospital now with bullet wounds.

“The said commander had threatened to kill all the members of the governor’s supporters in Elele. The then chairman could not do anything about it, today he has executed the first part and has threatened to continue. We urge the security agencies to have him arrested for prosecution.”

Police nab one suspect, recover arm

However, the Rivers State Police Command said it has arrested one suspect in connection with the shooting at Elele Town.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, noted that the hoodlums, after shooting fled, but that one person was arrested.

Inringe-Koko said: “The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform the general public of an attack at Elele Roundabout on the morning of Wednesday, about 7a.m. Acting on credible intelligence regarding the unlawful assembly of suspected hoodlums at the location, a patrol team from Elele Division, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), swiftly mobilised to the scene to restore order.

“In an attempt to address the crowd, an unidentified assailant, hiding within the vicinity, opened fire resulting in multiple injuries. At press time, the number of those injured stood at four.
“The armed hoodlums fled the scene immediately, but one of them was apprehended, and a single-barrel gun was recovered from him. The injured victims were promptly rushed to various hospitals in Elele for medical attention.
“A manhunt is currently underway for the fleeing suspects, some of whom have been identified as members of the local vigilante group known as OSPAC. The arrested suspect, along with the recovered firearm, will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, for further investigation.”
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