<\/p>\n

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has said that Siminalayi Fubara, Governor of Rivers State, should face impeachment if he violates the constitution.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, Wike said politics should not be taken lightly and that removing the governor would not be a criminal offence.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics is not play. If you have committed an offence to be impeached, what\u2019s wrong? Is it a criminal offence? It\u2019s provided in the constitution. Am I a member of the assembly?\u201d Wike asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have committed an infraction of the constitution, and the assembly deems it fit to say you should be impeached.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have heard people say, \u2018Oh, if they impeach him, there will be a breakdown of law and order.\u2019 Rubbish! Nothing will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While defending his commitment to legal procedures and fairness, Wike questioned how a handful of legislators could pass laws and expect them to be recognised as valid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot believe that in this country, we are now at the point where Nigerians are talking about where three members of the house will sit and make a law, and they are talking about going to the supreme court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeakers and assembly members are not our children; they were elected; they are not your boys or your girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sit with them and play with them. I travelled with my speakers, and I created relationships. It\u2019s not a master-servant thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, Tony Okocha, chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state, asked Fubara to resign or face impeachment proceedings.<\/p>\n

Okocha said that the recent supreme court ruling on the state\u2019s political crisis is final, describing Fubara\u2019s invitation to the Martin Amaewhule-led assembly faction for a meeting as a \u201cGreek gift\u201d.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND<\/p>\n

Rivers has been enmeshed in political crisis following the conflict between Fubara and Wike.<\/p>\n

On February 28, the supreme court affirmed the judgment of a federal high court that barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the accountant-general of the federation from releasing statutory monthly allocations to Rivers state.<\/p>\n

The supreme court also nullified the local government election held in Rivers state on October 5, 2024.<\/p>\n

Fubara had promised to comply with the judgment of the apex court.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Rivers governor invited the Amaewhule-led house of assembly members to a meeting scheduled for Monday.<\/p>\n

Fubara\u2019s invitation was viewed as a step towards resolving the Rivers assembly crisis that began in 2023.<\/p>\n

The FCT minister, however, criticised Fubara for writing to the state house of assembly, stating that he should have called Amaewhule and his team to arrange a meeting. He also described the letter from Fubara as \u201cuseless\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has said that Siminalayi Fubara,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[263,493,1550],"class_list":["post-13265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-nyesom-wike","tag-rivers-state","tag-siminalayi-fubara"],"yoast_head":"\n