By Katherine Abayomi
The face-off between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and the State House of Assembly has taken a dramatic turn. Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, has called on Governor Fubara to resign honorably or face impeachment by the lawmakers.
Okocha’s statement comes on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent judgment, which recognized the Martin Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly as the rightful assembly of the state. The judgment also voided the presentation of the 2025 budget before a three-man assembly led by Victor Oko-Jumbo and removed all elected local government chairmen.
The Assembly following the judgement had invited the governor to represent the budget before it while also summoning the Chairman and Commissioners of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission ( RSIEC) to appear before it.
However, the governor in an attempt to resolve the impasse had fixed a meeting with the lawmakers at 10:am Monday, but Okocha while reacting to the invitation and the Supreme Court judgement at a press conference in Port Harcourt, urged the lawmakers to ignore the invitation describing the reasons given for the invitation as absurd.
He insisted that the Supreme Court judgement is sacrosanct and cannot be discussed.
“As a political party, we are advising the governor that there are two options available to him – resign honorably or be impeached, that’s the position of the APC today,” Okocha said.
Okocha also insisted that the governor has committed several impeachable offences as outlined in the Supreme Court judgement.
“He has ran the state aground. He has disrespected Mr President and we warned him, let him resign because there is no government in Rivers State. He’s already sitting on a keg of gunpowder and a little spark it will explode, ” he added.
He recalled that the APC had earlier offered some helping hands to the governor in the wake of the crisis but he refused, noting that those who urged the governor on have left him now.
Okocha applauded the 27 lawmakers led by Martin Amaewhule for standing firm in their pursuit of the matter.
“I congratulate the 27 assembly members who stood their grounds. Not even the threat, not even the palpable hunger following their non-payment of salaries, they were not deterred so we need to commend them as the face of modern democracy in Nigeria,” the party chairman said.
Okocha reprimanded those threatening to burst oil pipelines in the region if Fubara is impeached, describing their threat as an act of cowardice.
Okocha’s statement has added fuel to the ongoing crisis in Rivers State, and it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold