Politics
Impeachment threat: Fubara vows to fight on as PDP warns Wike’s men
The development comes as Fubara said he would not be deterred by threats from those pushing to disrupt governance through the instigation of political crises in the state.
He warned against any act of lawlessness and insisted that his path would remain focused on ensuring peace.
“I want to say to our teeming supporters, I know some of you, your spirits are high, some others, your spirits are low.
“I want to assure you, it doesn’t matter what the situation might be today, we will come up again stronger and better.
“Please continue to follow my footstep, and that footstep remains the path of peace. We need it because if anything happens, we are the greatest losers,” Fubara declared.
The APC faction loyal to former Governor Nyesom Wike had called for the governor’s resignation or impeachment, citing multiple alleged offences.
The opposition party, led by Chief Tony Okocha, also dismissed the governor’s invitation to a reconciliatory meeting with the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly as a “Greek gift.”
Fubara, in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Tammy Danagogo, on Sunday, invited the lawmakers for dialogue on Monday, following the Supreme Court’s ruling that validated the 27 legislators as the authentic Assembly members.
Reacting to the invitation on Sunday, one of the lawmakers, Isaiah Opuende, who represents Akuru-Toru Constituency 2, blasted Fubara for using social media channels.
Calling for Fubara’s resignation, Okocha, in his address to journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday, accused the governor of disrespecting President Bola Tinubu and failing to implement the eight-point resolution earlier set to resolve the crisis.
He wondered if the governor had bent over backwards after a protracted grandstanding.
The APC chieftain described Fubara as “clueless” and insisted that the only viable option left for him was to either resign honourably or face impeachment.
“The options before Siminalayi Joseph Fubara are two: he should honourably resign or be impeached because he has run the state aground and disrespected Mr President.
“The invitation to the lawmakers is a Greek gift. The Supreme Court judgment is final. There is nothing anybody can do about it.
“The only option available to the governor now is for him to resign or be impeached. And he should be honourable about it,” he said.
He stated, “The APC remains the major opposition party in Rivers State. We are the voice of the voiceless. When we said Siminalayi Fubara was clueless, we were not joking. The evidence is clear.
“The governor behaves like a saint, but he is a dangerous snake. His meeting agenda with the lawmakers is puerile. Is he inviting them to discuss the Supreme Court judgment?
“And why was the invitation letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, instead of the governor himself? It’s an aberration. As far as I’m concerned, it is a Greek Gift.”
Chief Okocha noted that the party would not stand idly by and watch the governor running the state aground with his style of governance.
He warned that the governor’s continued stay in office could lead to political instability in the state, likening the situation to a “keg of gunpowder” ready to explode.
Responding, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, dismissed Okocha’s comments, stating that he lacked the authority to speak on behalf of the APC leadership. Johnson described Okocha as an ‘impostor’ whose removal as the state APC chairman had been confirmed by the court.
He further stated that the call for impeachment was baseless, as the governor had demonstrated his commitment to peace by reaching out to the lawmakers for dialogue.
The commissioner stated, “I’ve decided not to be reckoning with what Chief Okocha says because he’s not a consistent person. He doesn’t have any moral grounds to make that call (impeachment) because as far as the law is concerned, he’s an impostor.
“A Rivers State High Court has long removed him from office. So, I think that he’s dangerously looking for relevance and I don’t think that he deserves it from this government.”
Speaking further, he said “This is not the first time, at some point he said he was going to ask members of his party who were in the House to invoke an impeachment proceeding. Not too long, he recanted
“So he’s not a man of his word. Nobody is talking about impeachment.
“An impeachment is not even on the table. The government is open to discussing with the Assembly members.”
The PDP described Okocha’s stance as “hallucination.”
In an interview with The PUNCh, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, accused the APC faction of attempting to create unnecessary political tension.
He asked the opposition party in the state to focus on addressing national challenges, rather than fuelling political crises in the state.
Ologunagba called on Okocha to deal with the issues concerning his chairmanship of the APC in Rivers and leave Fubara out of his troubles.
He said, “The man you are talking about has a lot of issues to deal with, one of which is his claim to the chairmanship of the APC in Rivers State.
“All we can say is that the man is hallucinating. He is in a dream world and we can’t stop him from dreaming.
“However, he must be told that impeachment is a constitutional process and not what you just sleep and dream about.
“Instead of Governor Fubara, Okocha should help his party think of how to deal with the hardship they have brought on Nigerians.
“Nigerians are being made to pay exorbitant tariffs in energy and telecoms and life has never been this hellish. This is what should bother him and his party, the APC.”
Ologunagba added that Fubara remained popular among the people of Rivers State.
“He has no locus standi to tell Governor Fubara to resign because the Rivers people are very happy with him.
“They are proud of the work he is doing. In a very short period, he has impacted the people of Rivers State in a manner that deserves our collective applause.
“Governor Fubara was elected to lead his people and he is doing that excellently,” he added.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, said no rational person would demand Fubara’s impeachment.
He said the governor had firmly established himself in the state’s politics and had the backing of the people.
“Those calling for the impeachment of Governor Fubara don’t understand the constitution. Impeaching a performing governor like the Rivers State governor is not a tea party.
“The stakeholders are with him, and they know it is not a tea party to impeach him; he enjoys the support of the Rivers people.
“Governor Fubara has entrenched himself in the politics of Rivers State. He cannot be impeached and should not be impeached.
“Those who have said so, I believe they should retrace their steps. No sane person will move to impeach Fubara,” he added.
The state Publicity Secretary of the Emeka Beke-led APC faction, Darlington Nwauju, also described Okocha as an impostor benefitting from the crisis.
Nwauju, in a statement sent to our correspondent, said, “Recall that part of the grounds which the Supreme Court latched on to sustain the Federal High Court judgment which nullified the local government elections in Rivers State was that the election went ahead despite the court judgment stopping the process.
“Now, our question is – if we are not a people suffering collective amnesia in Rivers State, why must a Tony Okocha, who is still parading himself as chairman of the APC in Rivers against the judgment of the court, now be the person pontificating over abuse of or disobedience to court process?
“What kind of physician goes about healing others while needing a health emergency?
“The likes of Tony Okocha are conflict entrepreneurs as far as the political saga in Rivers State is concerned and posterity will not forget the ignoble roles he is playing in dismantling democracy and the rule of law in Rivers State,” Nwauju, the spokesman of the faction loyal to the former Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, said.
Fubara urges calm
Fubara has urged the people to remain peaceful and law-abiding in the overall interest of the state.
He spoke at the inauguration of the Nyeweali Akpor Kingdom palace and a magnificent residential quarters for the king, Eze Levi Oriebe, at Ozuoba in Obi/Akpor Local Government Area on Monday.
He warned against any act of lawlessness and assured his supporters that he would come out stronger from the crisis.
“Please continue to follow my footstep, and that footstep remains the path of peace. We need it because if anything happens, we are the greatest losers.
“I will not encourage any act of disobedience or any act of violence. That is, however, not to say that we will support evil. We will never support evil.”
He said his administration remained focused on good governance and would not renege on the promise of delivering impactful, people-oriented development projects continually.
Fubara considered the palace inauguration as historic, being the first in over 200 years of the kingdom’s existence.
He said he promised to build the palace 10 months ago, during the flag-off of reconstruction work on the Okania-Ogbogoro road.
He said his administration achieved the fear six months after the project was awarded for construction.
“I was really touched to the point that I had a few drops of tears when the royal father was speaking. He said for over 200 years that the Akpor Kingdom has existed, it functioned without a palace.
“God doesn’t make mistakes. Maybe, He left it for our administration to build, so that we will be part of history forever in Akpor Kingdom,” Fubara said.
He urged the Obio/Akpor people to remain supportive of his administration.
The Eze Oha Apara (IV) and Paramount Ruler of Apara Kingdom, Eze Chike Amadi Worlu-Wodo, during the inauguration, recalled that a few months ago, he benefitted from a magnificent palace built for his kingdom by the Fubara administration.
Eze Worlu-Wodo, who is also the Chairman of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, said the government was spending much to build palaces for traditional rulers because it understood they were closest leaders to the people.
“I am glad to be here, Your Excellency, to witness your display of goodwill, respect and good intention for the traditional institution. Your Excellency, you have done well, and I must say, we are all proud of you,” he said.
Providing the project description, the Commissioner for Special Projects, Dr Rowland Obed-Whyte, said the construction was awarded in August 2024, and the work was completed in six months.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The former member that represented Anambra East and West Federal Constituency Chief Chinedu Obidigwe has denied a social media handle where he was said to have made Prof Charles Soludo the Governor of Anambra state.
Obidigwe further stated that the report did neither emanate from him or from his Media Aides urging the party not to believe what he called attempt at setting a negative agenda in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Obidigwe who is an Aspirant of the party for the Anambra East and West Federal Constituency accused enemies of the party being sponsored by opposition parties to creat problems .
According to the Media Assistant to Obidigwe Mr Dominic Okagbue in a statement;
“The attention of Hon. Chinedu Benjamin Obidigwe has been drawn to misleading and unfounded claims/propaganda being circulated on various social media platforms through a pseudo account, alleging that Obidigwe said he installed the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, as Governor in 2021”
“We wish to state, without any iota of equivocation, that such a statement never emanated from Hon. Chinedu Obidigwe. It is a desperate move by his political enemies who are bent on tarnishing his image as a tool and technique to advance their unmerited aspirations”
“Obidigwe, in 2021, was merely an electorate with just one vote. Even though he voted for the Governor and APGA, the question remains: can one man’s vote make a Governor?”
“Governor Soludo was elected and made Governor through the collective votes of Ndi Anambra, both in his first and second terms. We therefore call on the reading public to disregard such rumours and treat them as faceless and unfounded allegations geared towards the character assassination of an innocent man” he said.
A former Kano State Governor and leader of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, Rabiu Kwankwaso, says northern political leaders conducted a deliberate assessment of potential allies before settling on Peter Obi as the most capable partner to prosecute the 2027 presidential campaign.
He dismissed concerns about a hidden power struggle between his camp and Obi’s.Politics
Kwankwaso made the disclosure in an interview on Arise TV on Monday, offering one of his most detailed accounts yet of how the North-Southeast political alliance within the NDC was formed.
“I looked around together with our leadership in the north to say, okay, who do we think is capable? Who can come and work together with us honestly so that we can move this country? Along the line, we realised that Peter Obi is at the forefront of it. That’s why we all accepted to work together,” he said.Political candidate profile
Kwankwaso, a two-term former governor of Kano State and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party in 2023, leads the Kwankwasiyya movement, a grassroots political force with deep loyalty across Kano and parts of northern Nigeria.Nigeria travel guide
He left the NNPP amid internal disputes before joining the NDC alongside Obi earlier this month.
Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, ran on the Labour Party platform in 2023 and drew massive youth-driven support across the South and urban centres, though he did not win.
Both men formally joined the NDC on Sunday, May 3, defecting from the crisis-hit African Democratic Congress.Politics
At the party’s national convention on Saturday in Abuja, Kwankwaso backed the NDC’s decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, describing it as a step toward fairness, healing and national cohesion.
Responding to a question about whether the alliance concealed a quiet rivalry between both camps, Kwankwaso argued that friction between principals and their deputies was a product of greed, not structural tension.
“The problem people are having, especially leaders, is that they are too greedy to the extent that they begin to have issues. There is so much to do. You don’t have to fight your deputy,” he said.
He said his record as a former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, and later as governor of Kano State, showed that political partnerships could hold under pressure.
“I had an opportunity to work with my speaker and we worked very well. I was in Kano for eight years despite the difficulty of my then deputy governor. We were able to work for eight years amicably to the extent that I handed over to him,” he said.
Kwankwaso extended the argument beyond his personal experience, saying the same principle applied at the federal level.
In the Senate and other places, in the NDDC, we worked amicably with people. There is so much to be done and that’s why you have even ministers, other executives, advisors and so on. I don’t see from my experiences of the past why deputies or vice would fight with the president or governor,” he said.
He grounded the alliance in Nigerian political history, tracing a lineage of productive North-Southeast partnerships from the first republic to the present.Nigeria travel guide
“Right from the beginning, this sort of alliance has been in existence. Now we are going back to what Tafawa Balewa did during their time,” he said.
He also referenced the collaboration between former Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa and leaders of the NCNC, as well as that of former President Shehu Shagari and his vice president, Alex Ekwueme, in the second republic.
“So also in the second republic, immediately after the war, our leaders, Shagari and others, worked very closely with the southeast, with Alex Ekwueme as his vice president. They are our friends. We want to work together with them,” he said.Politics
Kwankwaso also noted that subsequent administrations had shifted power-sharing away from the South-East, a pattern he suggested the current alliance was correcting.
“There was a change during the third republic where for many obvious reasons an election was annulled and the government under the military decided to bring in Shonekan from the South-West.
Even after that, the military and other leaders worked together and brought in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West again. Even Bola Tinubu probably is a beneficiary of all that,” he said.
He was emphatic that the choice of Obi was not driven by regional sentiment alone.
“It wasn’t just because we are going to the South-West just because of the South-West. No. We realised that Peter Obi is at the forefront of it and that’s why we all accepted to work together,” he said.Political candidate profile
The movement of both men into the NDC has triggered a wave of defections, with senators, House of Representatives members and political blocs aligned with their former coalition gravitating toward the new party, rapidly reshaping calculations ahead of the 2027 elections.
The alliance pairs Kwankwaso’s northern grassroots structure and disciplined voter mobilisation with Obi’s national youth engagement and urban electoral momentum, positioning the NDC as one of the main opposition platforms set to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2027
Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has dismissed suggestions that his exit from the African Democratic Congress has created a damaging split in the opposition.
He said he and Atiku Abubakar may yet work together before the 2027 general election.
Kwankwaso spoke in an interview on Arise TV on Monday, responding to concerns that his move to the Nigeria Democratic Congress alongside Peter Obi had effectively divided the opposition into two competing blocs ahead of the polls.
“Now, we may still work together before the election. I personally, and I think even Obi himself, decided to leave ADC not because we are fighting with Atiku or anybody there. We decided to leave that party because we realised that there are some issues,” he said
He said the ADC was contending with three major unresolved problems that he believed would make it difficult for the party to field candidates, without specifying what those issues were.
“Whether they will be able to field candidates in that party or not is just a matter of time. It’s not like we had a primary election,” he said
The remarks come after Atiku recently claimed on Arise TV that Kwankwaso’s popularity was confined to Kano State and further divided there by Governor Abba Yusuf.
Atiku, who is seeking the presidency on the ADC platform, also described himself as the most popular politician of northern extraction, saying none of his contemporaries, including Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal and Nasir El-Rufai, commanded a voter base across the North as wide as his.
Kwankwaso did not engage the slight directly, but made clear he bore no grudge.
“Politics is just like a game. I’m not fighting anybody and I’m not expecting anybody to fight me. I have no issue with that. I think we are past that level now,” he said.
He challenged those predicting a vote split in Kano to wait for the election result before drawing conclusions.
“Let’s wait for the election and see whether votes are split in Kano or not,” he said.
Kwankwaso also acknowledged a history of working with Atiku, recalling that he served as the former vice president’s northern coordinator during the 2019 presidential election.
“There was an election in 2019 in Port Harcourt. He won the election. I was his coordinator for the north. We worked for him,” he said.
He traced his broader relationship with Atiku to the 2015 APC presidential primary in Lagos, where he placed second behind Muhammadu Buhari, with Atiku third.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The Anambra State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expelled 30 members of the party for instituting legal actions against the party.
The affected members include some aspirants for the National Assembly, and their expulsion may disqualify them from participating in the party’s primary elections.
Disclosing this shortly after the meeting of the State Executive Committee (SEC) of the party, the State Publicity Secretary, Dr. Sir Valentine Iyiegbu, told reporters that the decision was in line with Section 21, Subsection 5 of the party’s constitution.
“The party discussed those who took the party to court, and many of them are contesting for the House of Representatives tickets of the party,” he said.
“The matter comes up tomorrow, and the SEC stated that what the party constitution stipulates would be followed, which is outright expulsion from the party under Article 21, Subsection 5.”
“The SEC actually ratified their expulsion because they did not exhaust all the internal avenues provided by the party to resolve their grievances,” he added.
Iyiegbu noted that the only reprieve available to the expelled members would be for them to withdraw their court cases.
“It is only when the matters are withdrawn from the court that the party can consider listening to them,” he said.
Speaking on the party’s primary elections, he explained:
“In the case of those contesting for the tickets of the Federal House of Representatives, all the eleven positions have aspirants, while for the Senate, the three positions are also being contested. The screening committees were here to perform their duties,” he noted.
The party also ratified the appointment of a five-man Primary Elections Committee headed by Sir Izuchukwu Okeke, the State Organising Secretary of the party.
By PETRUS OBI
Frontline aspirant for the Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency seat, Anayo Onwuegbu, has successfully completed the screening exercise conducted by the All Progressives Congress House of Representatives screening panel in Abuja ahead of the party primaries scheduled for Friday, May 15, 2026.
Speaking after the exercise, Onwuegbu expressed satisfaction with the screening process, describing it as a reflection of the party’s commitment to internal democracy, transparency, and credible leadership selection ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The aspirant, who is seeking to represent Aninri/Awgu/Oji-River Federal Constituency under the platform of the APC, stated that he remains focused and prepared to continue to offer quality representation to the people of the constituency.
According to him, “The process once again highlights our party’s commitment to internal democracy, transparency, and the emergence of credible leadership as we prepare for the 2027 general elections.”
He reaffirmed his dedication to the development of the constituency, pledging to serve the people with commitment and purpose if elected.
The APC House of Representatives primaries are expected to hold nationwide on Friday as aspirants battle for the party’s tickets ahead of the 2027 elections.
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