The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, failed to resume plenary on Thursday, exactly one week after adjourning its last sitting.
The development came amid rumours that some lawmakers were plotting to impeach Amaewhule during the scheduled sitting.
At its sitting last Thursday, the Assembly commenced impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, over alleged gross misconduct.
The House, under Amaewhule’s leadership, cited the demolition of the Assembly complex and spending without legislative approval, among other allegations, as grounds for the impeachment move.
The Clerk of the Assembly was consequently directed to serve an impeachment notice on the governor, giving him seven days to respond to the allegations.
The House thereafter adjourned sitting till Thursday, January 15, 2026.
However, amid mounting political pushback, four lawmakers between Monday and Wednesday formally withdrew from the impeachment process, calling instead for an amicable resolution of the crisis.
On Thursday, when the Assembly was expected to reconvene, there was no indication that plenary would hold.
The House, which currently sits at the conference hall of its official legislative quarters along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, remained inactive, with no explanation offered for the failure to sit or information on when lawmakers would reconvene.
Efforts to reach the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Petitions and Complaints, Dr Eneme George, proved unsuccessful, as he neither answered phone calls nor replied to a text message as of the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, a top government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the lawmakers as characters more suited to the Nollywood industry than politics.
He said, “The other time they sat and gave the governor one week to respond to allegations against him and all the rest. Now these people are like Nollywood ‘players’. ‘They can act.’”
He added, “I don’t even know what they are doing in politics instead of going into Nollywood so that they can produce good movies.”
Commenting on the silence of the lawmakers and the rumoured impeachment of the Speaker, the official said: “What I heard, because I’m not close to any of the Assembly members, was that there was an attempt to impeach the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, today, but I think he got wind of it and decided not to reconvene the House.”
He further remarked, “But you know an animal that removes itself from a trap set is still in the bush. Let’s see how far they can run at the end of the day. If that is true, you see that the hunter has become the hunted.”
Also speaking on the development, a former federal lawmaker, Chief Ogbonna Nwuke, recalled the Assembly’s last sitting before its adjournment to January 15.
Nwuke, who represented Etche/Omuma Constituency in the House of Representatives, said it appeared the larger House was beginning to bend after listening to various interventions, including those from within its own ranks.
The former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications stressed the need for synergy between the executive and legislative arms in the interest of peace and development in the state.
He said, “You and I know that after that sitting when they commenced the impeachment against the governor, many developments began to come up. You know that four of their colleagues have pulled out of the impeachment.”
“They didn’t stop there, but also called on fellow house members in the camp to also withdraw. So naturally, I’m certain that quite a number of people and expectations are high. They (lawmakers) probably will sit and look at all of that. If there are rumours of impeachment, it is entirely a problem of the House.’”
Nwuke stressed the need for reconciliation to allow for peace in the interest of the state.
He said, “I think what great minds in Rivers State want at this time in our history is a clear understanding that there will be no impeachment. A clear understanding that there will be a working relationship between the House and the executive arm.
“These are the expectations, very likely, and I’m sure quite a number of Rivers people agree to this. So we are hoping that when the House reconvenes, people will be able to study the mood of the House and be able to understand what direction the House is following at this time.”
Earlier in the week, the Minority Leader of the House, Sylvanus Nwankwo, representing Omuma Constituency, alongside Peter Abbey of Degema Constituency, formally withdrew their support for the impeachment move at a news briefing in Port Harcourt, where they called for a peaceful resolution of the political crisis.
Similarly, on Wednesday, two female lawmakers in the Amaewhule-led Assembly—Barile Nwakoh, representing Khana Constituency I, and Emilia Amadi of Obio/Akpor Constituency II—appealed to their colleagues to withdraw the impeachment proceedings.
Nwakoh and Amadi called for a political resolution of the matter and commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, for their interventions.
However, they blamed the current crisis on what they described as infringements of the Constitution by Governor Fubara and his deputy, as well as the governor’s alleged refusal to adhere to agreements reached under the supervision of the President.
They appealed to their colleagues to embrace a political solution if the governor would assure them of respecting the agreements and governing in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Several groups, including the Pan Niger Delta Forum and the Rivers State Elders and Leaders Forum, among others, have also intervened in the crisis, with some constituting committees aimed at resolving the rift between Chief Wike and his estranged political ally and successor, Governor Fubara.
Credit: Punch