The Rivers State House of Assembly has suspended impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu earlier this month.
The decision was taken on Thursday during plenary at the Assembly’s resumed sitting in Port Harcourt, where a motion to halt the process was moved and unanimously adopted .
The suspension is widely viewed as a confidence-building measure aimed at restoring calm and creating room for dialogue among the contending political actors, in line with the president’s call for peace and stability in Rivers State .
The impeachment proceedings were initiated at the Assembly’s first sitting of 2026, with lawmakers accusing Fubara and Odu of gross misconduct. The allegations included the demolition of the State Assembly complex without authorisation, extra-budgetary spending, withholding funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, alleged refusal to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on legislative financial autonomy, and making illegal appointments .
Of the 32 members of the Assembly, 26 had signed the notice to invoke Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to remove the governor and his deputy .
The impeachment drive was rooted in a long-standing power struggle over legislative control and budget approvals, which intensified after Fubara defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2025 .
Earlier legal interventions had slowed the process. On January 15, a Rivers State High Court issued an interim injunction restraining the Speaker, Clerk, and Chief Judge from advancing the impeachment . The Chief Judge subsequently declined the Assembly’s request to set up a seven-man probe panel, citing the subsisting court order.
The political crisis prompted President Tinubu to intervene, meeting with Fubara and his predecessor, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, on Sunday, February 8, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja .
Following the meeting, Wike expressed strong optimism that the lingering political crisis in the state was close to a lasting resolution. “I have told the assembly to do the needful and obey Mr. President, which I know they will not hesitate. I also believe the governor will carry out his own part of the deal to make sure that this is the final time Rivers people will begin to hear this kind of discord,” Wike said .
It remains unclear whether the impeachment move has been permanently withdrawn or merely paused . Thursday’s suspension came amid broader reconciliation efforts, with reports that Governor Fubara had recently dissolved the State Executive Council as part of agreements reportedly aimed at restoring political stability .
