Understanding the undertones of the Rivers political crisis

The political situation in Rivers State is a complex web of intrigue, power play, legal maneuvering and naked self-interest. It is difficult to determine where one strand ends and another begins. Ironically, the principal actors in this unfolding drama — the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara — belonged to the same political family during the 2023 general election.

Last Friday, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Oyigbo adjourned indefinitely the suit filed by Governor Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, seeking to restrain the Chief Judge of the state from receiving a notice from the House of Assembly to constitute a seven-man panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.

This development followed an earlier interim order by the same court, issued a week earlier, directing the Chief Judge not to receive the impeachment notice or constitute the panel pending the determination of the suit.

There is no disputing the fact that Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State, deployed the full weight of his political machinery to ensure Fubara’s emergence as governor.

He ensured that no other aspirant picked the nomination form of the Peoples Democratic Party to challenge Fubara and went on to prosecute the election with single-minded determination.

One of the extraordinary measures taken was the issuance of executive orders — a first in the history of the State — restricting opposition parties from holding public rallies unless they obtained express permission from the State government, at prohibitive costs.

After Fubara’s victory, a government was formed, virtually handpicked by the FCT Minister. Nothing was expected to go wrong, as Wike openly paraded himself as the political father of the governor.

The first major contract awarded by the Fubara administration was executed under Wike’s close supervision. The Minister openly admitted that he took the governor to Germany to meet the contractors.

The project — the Port Harcourt Ring Road — was valued at ₦195 billion, the largest in the state’s history, with 70 per cent paid upfront as mobilisation. A supplementary budget had to be prepared to accommodate the project.

The cracks, when they appeared, were initially subtle. But as the governor prepared to present the 2024 budget to the House of Assembly, the political structure suddenly fractured.

In quick succession, the Majority Leader, Edison Ehie, and three other lawmakers were suspended, and impeachment proceedings were initiated against the governor.

In response, the suspended lawmakers convened a parallel sitting elsewhere in Port Harcourt, impeached the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, and elected Ehie as Speaker.

As citizens struggled to comprehend the unfolding crisis, an explosion rocked the main complex of the House of Assembly, triggering far-reaching consequences.

President Bola Tinubu subsequently intervened, inviting the governor, the FCT Minister and members of the House of Assembly to Abuja.

The meeting produced an eight-point proclamation. Among other resolutions, the governor was directed to reappoint commissioners who had resigned, present the budget to the Amaewhule-led faction of the Assembly, while the lawmakers were asked to suspend impeachment proceedings. All parties were also required to withdraw pending court cases.

However, just as implementation was about to begin, a major twist occurred. The 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister defected en masse from the PDP to the APC.

Constitutionally, this action amounted to forfeiture of their seats. Governor Fubara consequently stopped recognising them and began working with the four remaining PDP lawmakers loyal to him. This faction approved his budgets and commissioner nominees, leaving the Minister and his allies politically stranded.

Fortunately for them, the lawmakers had not withdrawn their suit challenging their non-recognition, while the state government, in compliance with the Abuja proclamation, withdrew its defence.

This legal advantage carried them all the way to the Supreme Court, which on February 28, 2025 ruled in their favour, holding that the eight-point proclamation had no legal standing.

The apex court nullified all actions taken by the four-man Assembly, later reduced to three following Edison Ehie’s resignation and subsequent appointment as Chief of Staff to the governor.

One major fallout of the judgment was the nullification of the local government elections conducted on October 5, 2024, which had produced chairmen and councillors across the 23 local government areas.

The crisis deepened as the lawmakers refused to honour invitations to Government House. When the governor attempted to visit them at their quarters, he was physically barred from entry.

It was against this backdrop that President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending both the governor and the legislature for six months, and appointing a Sole Administrator, retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, to govern the state.

During the emergency period, Ibas reconstituted statutory boards and governing councils with loyalists of the FCT Minister and conducted local government elections reportedly dominated by Candidates handpicked by him. By the time emergency rule ended, the political machinery of the state was firmly in the hands of Wike’s loyalists.

While lifting the emergency rule, President Tinubu announced that all issues had been resolved and normalcy restored. However, the body language of both the governor and the legislators suggested otherwise.

The lawmakers issued ultimatums demanding the presentation of the budget and commissioner-nominee.

The political atmosphere remained tense. Amid this, 17 lawmakers, including the Speaker, defected to the APC and adjourned sittings until January 26, 2026.

In December, after consultations with the President, Governor Fubara returned to Port Harcourt declaring that he had “received the signal” he had been waiting for and defected to the APC.

He was subsequently registered by the party’s national leadership as “Member 001,” with the caveat that he was not the party leader in the State.

This move triggered fresh hostilities. On January 6, the lawmakers abruptly reconvened and served a notice of impeachment on the governor.

*That is where Rivers State stands today.

What is at stake? With party primaries approaching, control of party structures has become critical.

As APC leader, a sitting governor would significantly influence the nomination of candidates for governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections.

If Fubara survives impeachment and remains governor, he will shape the political future of the State. If removed, an acting governor — likely Speaker Amaewhule — could assume that power ahead of the 2027 elections.

Wike’s stranglehold on Rivers politics could depend on the outcome of this last fight, which could ultimately determine his political future.

While the impeachment process plays out in court, political fixers around the President are lobbying intensely on both sides. Ultimately, the decisive factor will be the intervention of President Bola Tinubu — and where he chooses to tilt the balance.

— Emmanuel Obe