The ongoing political crisis in Rivers State can be traced back to October 2023, when tensions between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, now the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike, escalated.
Naija News reports that the situation worsened on 29 October 2023, when a section of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex was bombed, further heightening the political tensions.
Fubara and Wike have been engaged in a prolonged power struggle over control of political structures in the state, with both sides vying for influence.
On 7th October 2024, the conflict took a more violent turn when three local government secretariats were set on fire, intensifying fears of further unrest.
In December 2023, the political crisis deepened when 27 lawmakers from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) “defected” to the All Progressives Congress (APC), sparking a constitutional debate over their actions. The Rivers State High Court ruled that the seats of the defecting lawmakers were vacant, a decision that was later challenged and led to a series of ongoing legal battles.
These events have culminated in the president’s decision to declare a state of emergency in the state to restore stability and address the ongoing political unrest.
According to The Nation, here is a timeline of the Rivers political crisis:
29 October 2023 – A section of the State House of Assembly Complex went into flames after suspected arsonists bombed it. This was on the eve of the impeachment attempt on Governor Fubara.
30 October 2023 – Some lawmakers, backed by Wike, initiatedimpeachment proceedings against Fubara
31 October 2023 – President Bola Tinubu mediated in the political rift between Fubara and Wike at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The mediation failed after a short while.
11 December 2023 – The 27 pro-Wike lawmakers announced their defection from the PDP to APC, citing divisions within the PDP.
12 December 2023 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt, via an order, cleared the way for Governor Fubara-backed four-member Assembly to hold legislative business without interference by the Amaewhule-led faction.
13 December 2023 – Edison Ehie, the speaker of the four-member faction, declared vacant the seats of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers who defected to the APC, setting the tone for another phase of the political fight.
Fubara presented the N800 billion 2024 budget to the four-member assembly.
14 December 2023 – Fubara signed the N800 billion 2024 appropriation bill into law. The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Zacchaeus Adangor, resigned, citing “personal principles.”
15 December 2023 – More Wike’s loyalists resigned as commissioners, increasing the tally to nine.
18 December 2023 –Fubara and Wikesigned a peace deal at a meeting convened by President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
20 December 2023 – The lawmakers withdrew theimpeachment notice against Governor Fubara.
31 December 2023 – Ehie, the factional speaker, who led a four-member Fubara-backed assembly, resigned.
4 January 2024 –Ehie withdrew a contempt suit against pro-Wike lawmakers, suggesting the political crisis in the state was approaching an end.
17 January 2024 – Rivers Assembly reconfirmed the nine pro-Wike commissioners who resigned from the cabinet in December
22 January 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abujaset aside the state’s N800 billion budget signed into law in December 2023 by Governor Fubara.
26 January 2024 – The Rivers Assembly stripped Governor Fubara of the power to appoint caretaker committees for local government councils after the assembly rejected the governor’s veto against its legislation.
24 April 2024 – Governor Fubara reshuffled cabinet, and redeployedthree Wike-backed commissioners. The commissioners rejected their redeployment and resignedhours later.
6 May 2024 – Governor Fubara declared that Rivers had no House of Assembly.
8 May 2024 – Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker from Bonny Constituency, emerged as the speaker of a three-member Rivers Assembly, creating more confusion and deepening the political crisis in the state.
10 May 2024 – Fubara relocated the legislative business of the Assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt. A State High Court in Port Harcourt barred Wike’s allies from parading themselves as lawmakers.
13 May 2024—Governor Fubaravowed to probe the administration of his predecessor, Wike
15 May 2024 – Five more commissioners resigned, citing various reasons.
21 May 2024 – A State High Court in Port Harcourt nullified the amended Rivers local government law, which granted tenure extension for the local government council officials in the state
7 June 2024 – Rivers State Government approved N19.6 billion for the reconstruction of the Rivers House of Assembly Complex, six months after it was demolished.
18 June 2024 – Fubara, in a statewide broadcast, directed outgoing council officials to vacate office immediately following the expiration of their tenure.
19 June 2024: Governor Fubara inaugurated the chairpersons of the caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas in the state.
25 June 2024 –Dynamite exploded near Hotel Presidential along Aba Road, Port Harcourt, during a protest in solidarity with Wike.
4 July 2024—The Appeal Court in Abuja reinstated the pro-Wike lawmakers. The appellate court said the lower court lacked jurisdiction to grant the ex parte order it issued.
9 July 2024 – Pro-Wike lawmakers gave Governor Fubara a seven-day ultimatum to re-present the 2024 budget to them for consideration, their first legislative action after reinstatement.
21 July 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja declined pro-Wike lawmakers’ prayer to stop Governor Fubara from spending state funds.
13 August 2024 – Wikevowed never to support Fubara again in his political life, saying his successor was “ungrateful”.
25 August 2024 – APP in Rivers State asked Governor Fubara to seek re-election in 2027 under the party platform, claiming that the PDP had lost relevance in the state.
4 September 2024 – Justice I.P.C Igwe of a State High in Rivers orders Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct local elections in the state, using the 2023 voters register.
20 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja dismissed a suit seeking to sack pro-Wike lawmakers.
21 September 2024 – Governor Fubara’s allies picked APP forms for local elections, following PDP’s boycott of the exercise.
30 September 2024 – A Federal High Court in Abuja barred INEC from releasing voters’ register to RSIEC for local elections and further barred the police from providing security for the exercise.
4 October 2024 – Governor Fubara visited the RSIEC office and allegedly foiled an attempt by the police to “cart away” materials meant for the local elections. Police barred operatives from providing security for the election.
5 October 2024 – Fubara conducted local elections in the state where chairmanship candidates of APP won in 22 local councils in Rivers while Action Alliance won in one.
6 October 2024 – Fubara inaugurated chairpersons at Government House.
7 October 2024 – Police unsealed local government secretariats after four months.
8 October 2024 – Governor Fubara constituted a seven-man judicial panel of enquiry to investigate the cause of post-election violence and make recommendations for the state government.
10 October 2024 – The Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the nullification of Rivers 2024 budget. The appellate court affirmed pro-Wike lawmakers as the legitimate legislative authority in the state.
Governor Fubara filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, insisting the seats of the defected lawmakers remain vacant.
February 2025 – The Supreme Court restored Amaewhule’s position as the speaker, reinstated the others as legitimate members of the assembly, and nullified the local election organised by Fubara’s administration.
The lawmakers subsequently gave the governor 48 hours to re-present the budget.
The Governor had vowed to implement the order of the Supreme Court despite disagreeing with the verdict.
His efforts to re-present the budget were unsuccessful as the lawmakers denied him access to the assembly quarters last Wednesday.
On Monday, the battle took a new twist when 26 lawmakers served a notice of alleged misconduct against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
The notice of misconduct against the duo marks a resumption of the impeachment plot against them.
18 March 2025 – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu suspended Fubara and Odu for six months and declared a state of emergency in the state.
