• HURIWA Warns Against Impeachment Plot Against Fubara
The Rivers State House of Assembly has passed three critical bills aimed at strengthening the state’s legislative framework and improving governance.
The bills, which were passed during the Assembly’s 136th Legislative Sitting on Friday, will be forwarded to Governor Siminalayi Fubara for assent.
The three bills passed by the Assembly are the Rivers State House of Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Bill, 2025; the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Bill, 2025; and the Rivers State Local Government Bill, 2025.
The Guardian learnt that the Rivers State House of Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Bill, 2025, seeks to grant the Assembly powers, privileges, and immunity to perform its legislative duties effectively.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Bill, 2025, aims to repeal the existing State Electoral Law of 2018 and re-enact a new one to provide for the establishment, composition, and functions of the Commission in line with the Electoral Act of 2022 and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Rivers State Local Government Bill, 2025, seeks to repeal the State’s Local Government Laws of 2018, 2023, and 2024, and re-enact a new Local Government Law that will be in sync with contemporary laws in the administration of local councils.
The Speaker, Martin Chike Amaewhule, stated that the House was simply seeking the domestication of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act of 2017 that gave certain powers and privileges to the legislature in the performance of its function.
Amaewhule noted that the RSIEC Bill is very crucial, given the need to be in tandem with the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
He harped on the importance of making the Local Government Law to reflect certain constitutional provisions, adding that the Rivers State House of Assembly will continue to perform its legislative duties in the best interest of the people.
Commending members for their doggedness and resilience, Amaewhule said: “For sacrificing your recess in the interest of the people, history will be kind to you.”
He further extolled them for going the extra mile in working for the state and the people. The House thereafter adjourned sine die.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has warned against any attempt to impeach Governor Fubara, describing such a move as a “futile and dangerous ploy” that would ultimately fail.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Friday, HURIWA cautioned that Fubara was democratically elected by the majority of Rivers people and that any plot to remove him through unconstitutional means would be met with stiff resistance from the people.
The group specifically admonished the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, against instigating the 27 lawmakers loyal to him in the state House of Assembly to initiate an impeachment process against Fubara.
“The FCT Minister should see himself as a national leader, a unifier, and not a divider. It does not befit his current status as a senior cabinet member in the government of President Bola Tinubu to be at the centre of an intra-state political crisis. History will not be kind to him if he encourages his loyalists in the Rivers State House of Assembly to attempt an impeachment that could plunge the state into prolonged political instability,” HURIWA stated.
