The condemnation and rejection of the impeachment process against Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, intensified on Friday as the Supreme Council for Sim, a prominent political support group, weighed in.
At a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the group rejected the impeachment proceedings, describing the move by 27 lawmakers led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule as an unconstitutional act of political adventurism allegedly dictated by external forces.
The Council’s National Chairman, Ambassador Oji Ngofa, a chieftain and former National Working Committee member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), questioned the loyalty and legality of the 17 lawmakers who recently defected to the APC.
Ngofa argued that, if the lawmakers were genuine party members, they should have sought internal resolution through the APC’s state or national structures rather than resorting to what he described as legislative warfare.
He noted that their endorsement of the impeachment process without consulting the party leadership showed that they were no longer subordinating their actions to the APC.
Ngofa accused the lawmakers of surrendering their mandates to an individual pursuing selfish political interests and called on the APC to take punitive action against them for alleged anti-party activities.
He dismissed the grounds cited for the impeachment, particularly issues relating to the state budget, as legally baseless. Ngofa reminded the public that Rivers State’s fiscal arrangements were being managed under a framework that remained legally active and said that, under the 1999 Constitution, the government operated within a protected fiscal window. He therefore described any budget-related impeachment notice as premature and unconstitutional.
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“We do not understand the permutations under which a budget becomes the basis for a removal process,” Ngofa said. “This is nothing more than playing dangerous politics with the destiny of the Rivers people.”
He accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Fubara’s predecessor, Nyesom Wike, of masterminding the legislative crisis. Ngofa further alleged that the impeachment was not an expression of the people’s will but an attempt to appropriate collective resources for self-aggrandisement.
Describing the impeachment effort as a “no-man’s-land” exercise with no legal standing, Ngofa vowed to resist any attempt by Wike and his allies to treat Rivers State as a personal estate. He also announced plans to mobilise Rivers residents to stand by the governor and safeguard the state’s institutional stability.
“Rivers State belongs to all of us. We have a right to our collective patrimony. What is happening is an insult to our sensibilities. We want to live in peace, and we will stand firmly with Governor Fubara to ensure that the direction of the state remains focused on the people, not an individual,” he added.
