Suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has been given a stark new condition to avoid impeachment: reconcile with the state’s lawmakers.
This warning came from Rivers State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Tony Okocha, amid swirling speculation that Fubara could return to office as early as Thursday, June 12.
“There is no reconciliation effort currently underway in Rivers. The suspended Governor, Fubara, has not made any move to reconcile with the lawmakers. Only genuine reconciliation can save him from impeachment, as the Supreme Court judgment stands,” Okocha declared during a press conference in Abuja.
President Bola Tinubu had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State in March, suspending Fubara and dissolving the State House of Assembly.
Retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas was appointed as the administrator for a six-month period. Despite reports of Fubara’s visit to President Tinubu and speculation that he might defect to the APC, Okocha dismissed any suggestion that a party switch could shield the embattled governor from accountability.
“If Fubara decides to join the APC, it has nothing to do with the state of emergency in Rivers State. His sins cannot be forgiven because he came to our party. It is not true.
“He will enter the party through the door, not the window. There are procedures for defection. Politics is local.
“He must defect from his ward, and none of our ward chairmen have confirmed any such move,” Okocha insisted.
Okocha emphasised that Fubara’s suspension was not politically motivated but necessary due to what he called the governor’s “misdemeanour.”
“Don’t forget, the Supreme Court said there was no government in Rivers State. Something had to be done — and that was the state of emergency,” he said.
Former Governor Nyesom Wike has also criticised Fubara for failing to make visible reconciliation efforts, though Wike himself initially supported the impeachment push by loyal lawmakers.
