The executive governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, says a judicial panel of inquiry will be set up to investigate the management of the state’s resources and affairs under past administrations.

Fubara made this declaration on Monday while swearing in Dagogo Iboroma, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), as the Rivers’ attorney-general and commissioner for justice, at the government house in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

“Let me also say this: you have a big task. We will be setting up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of governance. So, brace up; I am not going back on it,” the governor said.

Earlier on Monday, Iboroma was vetted and approved as a commissioner nominee by the Rivers House of Assembly, which is run by factional speaker Victor Jumbo.

Iboroma was appointed when Zacchaeus Adangor resigned in April.

“Please defend us. We know that you are going to defend us because your record is clean. You are a gentleman who is peaceful. You are not a noise-maker. People like you are endowed, and they have the fear of God,” Fubara told Iboroma.

Fubara succeeded Nyesom Wike, who is the current minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), as governor in May 2023.

He was the accountant-general under Wike.

In May 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Fubara and 58 others wanted over an alleged N435 billion fraud.

• This Is A New Era

Fubara said the swearing-in of Iboroma marked the beginning of a new era for his government, which he noted has moved on from the political crisis in the state.

“I am happy that this is happening today to mark the beginning of a new era in our administration. When I said that I had a reason for being patient, it is because I know that we are all from one family and if we have a disagreement, no matter how bad it is, it should be resolved amicably,” Fubara said.

“But it has become very clear that this disagreement, there is no way to resolve it amicably. And for a lot of reasons, there is visible evidence that there is sabotage and deliberate attempt to sabotage this administration.

“For that reason, we have to move forward. And moving forward, if it means taking decisions that are going to hurt anybody. We are not going back on the protection of the interest of Rivers people.”

• The Crisis

The Rivers house of assembly has been polarised since 2023 following the rift between Fubara and Wike.

In December, 27 members of the assembly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Rivers assembly has 32 seats. One lawmaker, Dinebari Loolo, died in September 2023.

In October 2023, Ehie Edison was elected speaker of the factional assembly, after his removal as house leader by members led by Martin Amaewhule, amid the plot to impeach Fubara.

Edison later resigned as a lawmaker to become chief of staff to Fubara.

The lawmakers in the Amaewhule-led faction are loyal to Wike.

The political crisis took a fresh twist last Wednesday after Jumbo, a lawmaker representing the Bonny state constituency, was elected factional speaker.

Last Friday, a state high court in Port Harcourt granted an interim injunction restraining Amaewhule from acting as a speaker of the Rivers assembly.

Charles Wali, the presiding judge, also restrained 25 other assembly members from parading themselves as legislators.

The motion ex parte was filed by Jumbo and two assembly members, Sokari Goodboy and Orubienimigha Timothy, loyal to Fubara.

Credit: The Cable

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being desperate to take over Rivers state by force.

The caretaker committee of the APC in Rivers, on Tuesday, asked the Rivers house of assembly to impeach governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Tony Okocha, chairman of APC in the state, gave the directive while addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt, the capital.

Reacting during a media briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP spokesperson, asked the APC to perish the thought of a forceful takeover of Rivers.

Ologunagba said APC has been rejected in Rivers, noting that the party is desperate “to use violence, coercion, and bullying to undermine the will of the people and forcefully take over the state”.

“The fact that the Rivers State APC Chairman, in his warped imagination, thinks he can direct impeachment proceedings against a duly elected State Governor not only shows the level of APC’s arrogance and condescension for the people of Rivers State but also further confirms APC’s desperation to forcefully annex their democratic rights under the Constitution,” he said.

“In any event, the individuals that the Rivers State APC Chairman directed to commence impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara are not legally members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot contemplate or exercise such powers under the law.

“These individuals, by virtue of section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), have since vacated and lost their seats, rights, privileges, recognition, and obligations accruable to members of the Rivers State House of Assembly after their defection from the PDP, the political party platform upon which they were elected into the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“For emphasis, section 109 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution provides that: “a member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if … (g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected.”

“It should be noted that Section 109 (1) (g) of the Constitution is self-executory. The import of this provision is that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who defected have vacated their seats by reason of that defection.”

He added that the “unlawful” directive by the  APC chairman for the impeachment of the governor is a “brazen call for anarchy”.

Ologunagba said the call amounts to an attempt to forcefully overthrow a democratic order in clear violation of section 1 sub-section 2 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“The APC must perish the thought of forcefully taking over Rivers State as such is a direct assault on the sensibility of the people which will be resisted firmly,” he said.

On Monday, Fubara expressed dismay over the attitude of the assembly members toward his administration, adding that the lawmakers only exist because of him.

The governor added that he accepted the peace deal offered by President Bola Tinubu because it was a political solution to the rift.

In December, 27 PDP legislators in the Rivers assembly defected to the APC.

The seats of the lawmakers were subsequently declared vacant.

The committee set up to probe the finances of Kaduna under the administration of Nasir el-Rufai, the immediate former governor of the state, has commenced an investigation.

The committee, which is made up of 13 members, was set up by the Kaduna assembly in April.

The panel is tasked with looking at loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015 to 2023, the period when el-Rufai was governor of the state.

Suraj Bamalli, the media aide to Yusuf Liman, speaker of the Kaduna assembly, announced the development in a statement on Tuesday.

“The adhoc committee set up to conduct a comprehensive fact-finding into financial dealings, the status of executed contracts, loans, grants, and project implementation from 2015-2023 has commenced its clarification session,” the statement reads.

“The committee has engaged in detailed discussions with several key present and past government officials, including former Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Honorable Manzo Maigari; Former KADPPA Boss and Commissioner of Budget and Planning, Honorable Thomas Gyang, Commissioner and Administrator of Zaria Metropolitan Authority, Hajia Balaraba Aliyu, amongst others.

“The Kaduna State House of Assembly appreciates the cooperation and contributions of all individuals involved in this process and assures the public of their dedication to upholding the highest standards of governance during this process.”

On March 30, Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, said his administration inherited a debt of $587 million, N85 billion, and 115 contractual liabilities from el-Rufai’s administration.

The Kaduna governor said the huge debt burden is eating deep into the state’s share of the monthly federation allocation.