Rivers: Group knocks Fubara for disrespecting President Tinubu, asks him to resign now

In the face of the ongoing impeachment process of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State by the Assembly Members; a foremost pro democracy and accountability group has asked the Governor to honorably resign, before it is too late.

Governor Fubara is currently facing another row of impeachment threat, with 26 out of 27 House of Assembly Members already signed his impeachment notice.

Presenting the impeachment notice during the resumed plenary on Thursday, Majority Leader of the House, Hon. Major Jack, read out eight points of alleged gross misconduct against Governor Fubara.

Jack, who represents Akuku-Toru I Constituency, accused the Governor of demolition of the Assembly Complex; engaging in unapproved budgetary spendings; withholding funds meant for Rivers Assembly Service Commission; refusal to obey the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Financial Autonomy of the House; and seizure of the salaries of the Clerk of the Rivers House of Assembly, Emeka Amadi; amongst others.

The House, also, empathically accused Governor Fubara of rebuffing entreaties to present the 2026 budget, thereby undermining the powers of the Assembly.

Reacting Saturday morning, in a press statement signed by the Spokesperson, Comrade Wisdom Abah, the pro democracy and accountability group, under the umbrella of National Vanguard for Accountable and Transparent Democracy (NVATD), said, by reneging on the peace deal brokered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Governor has invited anarchy into the state.

“Let it be known to the whole world that, Governor Siminalayi Fubara is solely responsible for the political unrest that is currently befalling Rivers State. It does not take him anything to go back to the drawing board and follow the peace agreement he entered in June and September 2025, for the interest of the entire people of Rivers”, the group said.

The group stressed that, the refusal of Governor Fubara and his deputy to present the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the House of Assembly, his flagrant neglect of the democratically constituted State House of Assembly and his refusal to honour the peace deal supervised by President Tinubu, were the greatest unbecoming that would undo the Governor.

“The most honourable thing for the Governor to do now, is to just resign, before it is too late. Imagine he is the only Governor in Nigeria as at today, that has not presented the 2026 budget to the State Assembly. The Governor has no regard for the Lawmakers. He should be schooled that, Legislature is a critical arm of Government that performs critical roles. Lawmakers are not part of his executive.

“We saw his outing on BBC where he was boasting that there was no Assembly without him. He claimed he gave them existence and he could as well de-recognize them. He even claimed some Assembly members were feeding in his house and he paid their children school fees before he became Governor.

“Comments like these are not healthy for our democracy. The Governor should know better that, there is difference between personal relationship and governance. Even though he was close with some lawmakers before becoming Governor and they had personal ties, it would not preclude the Assembly, as a legislative arm of Government from doing its oversight functions on him and his executive.

“Refusing to present the 2026 budget to the State Assembly means he has de-recognized that institution of democracy as he rightly threatened. His refusal to grant total autonomy to the Assembly, autonomy to the Local Government and paying outstanding debts owed the Lawmakers, as agreed in the peace deal, means the Governor has not only insulted democracy, he has also disrespected the Assembly Members and above all, despised President Tinubu, before whom he made the commitments”, the statement added.