- Wike stressed that assembly members are elected officials, not subordinates, and should be treated with respect.
- On Monday, Tony Okocha, Rivers APC chairman, called for Fubara’s resignation or impeachment over the ongoing political crisis.
Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has stated that Rivers State governor Siminalayi Fubara should be removed from office if he breaches the constitution.
During a media chat in Abuja on Wednesday, Wike emphasised that politics is serious business and argued that impeaching the governor would not constitute a criminal act.
“Politics is not play. If you have committed an offence to be impeached, what’s wrong? Is it a criminal offence? It’s provided in the constitution,” Wike said.
“If you have committed an infraction of the constitution and the Assembly deems it fit to say, you should be impeached.”
“I have heard people say: ‘Oh, if they impeach him, there will be a breakdown of law and order’. Rubbish! Nothing will happen.”
Wike defended his commitment to upholding due process and justice, expressing disbelief that a small group of lawmakers could enact legislation and expect it to stand.
“I 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. Do we need to go to work?” he asked.
“Speakers and Assembly members are not our children; they were elected; they are not your boys or your girls.
“You sit with them and play with them. I travelled with my Speakers, and I created relationships. It’s not a master-servant thing.”
Wike added that he appreciated individuals who opposed unlawful actions, stressing that elected officials should never be treated as subordinates by those in power.
On Monday, Tony Okocha, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers, called on Fubara to resign or face impeachment proceedings.
Okocha stated that the recent supreme court verdict on the state’s political conflict is final and described Fubara’s invitation to the Amaewhule-led assembly faction as a “Greek gift.”
BACKSTORY
Rivers State has been engulfed in a political crisis following the ongoing power struggle between Fubara and Wike, the FCT minister.
On February 28, the supreme court upheld a federal high court ruling that prohibited the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the accountant-general from disbursing Rivers’ statutory monthly allocations.
Additionally, the supreme court annulled the local government elections held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024, a decision Fubara pledged to comply with.
On Sunday, the Rivers governor sent a letter inviting the Amaewhule-led house of assembly faction to a scheduled meeting on Monday.
Fubara’s invitation was seen as an attempt to resolve the Rivers assembly crisis, which has persisted since 2023.
However, the FCT minister criticised Fubara for sending a letter to the assembly, arguing that he should have directly contacted Amaewhule and his team instead.
Wike dismissed Fubara’s letter as “useless.”
Meanwhile, Fubara maintained that he had visited the quarters in obedience to the supreme court’s judgment regarding the Rivers political crisis.
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