Rivers assembly halts impeachment proceedings against Gov. Fubara, deputy

The Rivers State House of Assembly has suspended impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his Deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, in a significant twist in the prolonged political crisis rocking the oil-rich state.

The motion to halt the impeachment process was adopted on Thursday at a resumed sitting of the Assembly in Port Harcourt, the state capital, following mounting legal and political complications that have dogged the attempt since early January.

The impeachment process, which began with the service of gross misconduct notices against the governor and his deputy, had been beset by repeated setbacks, including court intervention and internal disagreements among lawmakers.

A long, turbulent road to halt proceedings

This is not the first time impeachment efforts against Governor Fubara, who was sworn into office in 2023, have been disrupted. Previous attempts in 2023 and again in early 2025 were halted following political intervention and a state of emergency declaration by President Bola Tinubu, after escalating tensions between the governor and the Rivers State House of Assembly.

In January, a Rivers State High Court issued an injunction restraining Assembly officials from acting on impeachment steps while legal challenges against the process played out in court. The judge’s order temporarily froze efforts to set up a panel to probe allegations of gross misconduct against the state’s top executives.

In addition, the Rivers State Chief Judge declined to constitute a judicial panel to investigate the governor and his deputy due to existing court orders.

Against that backdrop of legal uncertainty and political maneuvering, the legislature’s decision to halt the impeachment suggests a departure from earlier aggressive postures by some lawmakers.Deep political fault linesThe impeachment initiative had underscored deep fractures within Rivers politics, particularly between Governor Fubara and influential figures, including his predecessor and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

Lawmakers aligned with Wike had pushed for the removal of the governor and his deputy, citing alleged misconduct, including budgetary and administrative concerns. At various points, lawmakers supporting impeachment had called for formal panels to investigate the allegations, while opponents of the move, including some Assembly members and political stakeholders, described the process as destabilising and constitutionally flawed.

Political tensions spilled into legal battles, as Fubara and his deputy challenged the impeachment attempt in court, pushing the matter into appeals and suspensions that complicated the Assembly’s efforts. What the halt meansThe halt in impeachment proceedings offers the governor and his deputy a reprieve, at least for the moment, as the political drama in Rivers State remains unresolved. While the Assembly’s action on Thursday signals a pause, the broader conflict continues to influence governance and political alliances in the state.

Observers say the development reflects the interplay between legal challenges, political strategy, and federal intervention in state-level disputes, with implications for the balance of power within the ruling party and democratic processes in Nigeria’s subnational politics.

Further updates are expected as political and legal actors weigh next steps.