In apparent determination to stamp his authority as Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, on Thursday, stormed the residential quarters of the 32 members of the state House of Assembly, 27 of whom are believed to have commenced the move to remove him from office through impeachment on the orders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In November 2023, 27 members of the assembly, had served the governor with an impeachment noticed, a move which set off a flurry of political brickbats in the state, including the demolition of the multi-billion naira state assembly complex by the governor and the division of the legislature into two houses, with one led by Edison Ehie loyal to the governor, while that of the G-27 LED BY Martin Amaewhule, loyal to Nyesom Wike, Fubara’s predecessor and now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Matters got to a head with the eventual defection of the 27 members originally elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, leading to their seats being declared vacant by the five-man assembly of Edihe, which further heightened the tension.

It took the intervention of President Bola Tinubu, who brokered a peace deal between the two camps, which led to de-escalation of hostilities, with the assembly members allowed to remain and Edihe resigning his office as Speaker to take up the assignment of Chief of Staff (CoS) to Fubara,

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But both sides picked up the gauntlets again recently following the vetoing of the refusal of assent by the G27 on some of the laws it made and the governor’s declaration within the week that the lawmakers were not existing in his own reckoning, leading to the APC directing the assemblymen to commence his impeachment.

In apparent move to push down his authority in the state, the governor led some of officials to visit the assembly quarters, which serve as the official residence for the 32 legislators of the state and also houses the temporary chambers of the Martin Amaewhule-led state Assembly since the demolition of the main assembly building.

After the brief tour the governor left to inspect the Emohua-Kalabari road, slated for inauguration as part of his upcoming first-anniversary celebrations next week, where he praised the contractors to doing a good job, while also highlighting the importance of the project to the economic and social wellbeing of the state.

Regarding assembly visit, Fubara tsaid it was to assess the facility in light of the emergence of the new Speaker, suggesting that some work may be necessary to be carried out there, adding: “Is Assembly not part of my property? Is anything wrong going to check how things are going on there? You are aware of the development, we have a new speaker and I went there to see for myself how things are for myself because there might be a few things that I may do there for the good of our people.”

Four lawmakers loyal to the governor, who had on Wednesday elected the member representing the Bonny constituency Victor Oko-Jumbo as their Speaker, said the new assembly boss sworn in at 10 am during plenary on Wednesday, was enthroned in line with the Standing Order of the House.

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Except there is another quick intervention similar to the one initiated by President Bola Tinubu in December last year, Rivers State may be on the political broil once again, as the members of the state House of Assembly chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are about to pick up the impeachment gauntlet against Siminalayi Fubara once again.

The 27 members of the assembly, who seem to have been spoiling for the last battle, regardless of the truce, by overriding the governor’s veto on some of their decisions, finally got the all-clear signal on Tuesday from the APC to which they defected last year to move against the governor.

Led by Martin Amaewhule, they had initially held fire after Tinubu intervened in a political war in the state, fist prompted by the attempt to impeach Fubara, in November last year, which was followed by an immediate clapback by the governor, who declared the seats of the lawmakers vacant on the ground that they defected to the APC from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from which they were initially elected.

The faceoff between the governor and the lawmakers, is believed to be an extension of the political war between Fubara and Nyesom Wike, his predecessor, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over the struggle for the political structure in the state.

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The order to commence the impeachment of the governor, suggesting that the resumption of hostilities, had gone full-blast, came from Tony Okocha, the Rivers State Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee (CTC), in apparent quick riposte less than 24 hours after Fubara, declared the assembly as non-existent in the eyes of the law.

Fubara, an Ijaw man, spoke on Monday when former Governor, Seriake Dickson, now a Senator, and Alfred Diette Spiff, Chairman of the traditional rulers council and former Military Governor of old Rivers State, led a delegation of political leaders and traditional rulers from Bayelsa State to visit him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

His words: “Those group of men who claim that are our assembly members are not assembly members — they are not existing. I want it to be on record. I accepted that peace accord to give them a floating. That is the truth. There was nothing in that peace accord that is a constitutional issue.

“It is a political solution to a problem. It has gotten to a time when I have to make a statement that they are not existing. Their existence is me allowing them to exist. If I de-recognise them, they are nowhere.”

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Justice Usman Mallam Na’Abba, of the Kano State High Court, on Monday, reversed himself five days after making an order barring Abdullahi Ganduje National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), from parading himself or performing any official function in that capacity.

In vacating the order made ex-parte, following a plea by Haladu Gwanjo and Laminu Sani Barguma, who claimed to be the Chairman and Secretary of the APC Ganduje Ward in Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of the state, for the suspension of the former Governor of the state from his present job, Na’Abba said he relied on fresh arguments made on the matter.

The fresh applications were brought by Glory Adah, a litigation secretary at the law firm representing the APC boss in a motion ex-parte, accompanied by a 27-paragraph affidavit in support, and a written address dated April 22^nd, countering the grounds of his previous orders.

Na’Abba, who adjourned the case to April 30 for the hearing, said: “An order of interim injunction is hereby granted staying the execution of the order of interim injunction contained in the ruling of this court delivered on 17h April 2024 directing parties to maintain status quo ante as at the 15th day of April 2024 in relation to the suspension of the 4th respondent/applicant from the 1st respondent by the Ganduje Ward Executive Committee pending the hearing and determination of the 4th respondent/applicant motion on notice.”

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