Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has said that governors in the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not worried about the recent impeachment move against Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
Mr Sule, a member of the APC, and Mr Fubara spoke on Thursday when they appeared as guests on “Politics Today”, a Channels TV programme.
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Why we’re not worried
Mr Sule said on the TV programme that, although governors in the APC are naturally concerned about any political crisis affecting their colleagues, they are not worried about the impeachment move against Mr Fubara.
He maintained that Mr Fubara’s impeachment is unlikely due to a recent court order against it.
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“Of course, whatever happens to any of our colleagues, we are worried, but we are not so concerned to the point of saying he (Mr Fubara) is going to be impeached.
“From all indications, actions are being taken. Courts are making decisions. The chief judge is taking a position on that. So, for that reason, we are not worried,” he stated.
The Nasarawa governor said the impeachment move is usually governed strictly by law and due process.
“I’m not worried (about the impeachment move) because I think it’s an issue of the court. I am not worried about anybody impeaching anyone. You don’t just wake up and impeach somebody without going through the due process,” he said.
Background
On 8 January, Rivers State House of Assembly began impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his Deputy, Mrs Odu, over alleged gross misconduct.
The latest was the third attempt by the lawmakers to impeach the Rivers governor since he was elected into office in 2023.
The impeachment move came shortly after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused the governor of reneging on the terms of a peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu in June last year.
On 15 January, the assembly failed to reconvene on a scheduled date. This fuelled speculations that the lawmakers might have abandoned the impeachment move.
However, on 16 January, the lawmakers announced that the impeachment process would go on.
The assembly subsequently requested that the Chief Judge of Rivers, Simeon Chibuzor-Amadi, set up a panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy.
On the same day, the Rivers High Court issued an order restraining the assembly and the chief judge from proceeding with the impeachment process against the Rivers governor and his deputy.
On 22 January, the chief judge declined the Rivers assembly’s request to set up a seven-member panel to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Fubara and Mrs Odu.
The following day, the court stayed the impeachment suit filed by Mr Fubara and his deputy, shifting the battleground to the Court of Appeal.
Justice Florence Fiberesima adjourned the matter indefinitely after parties informed the court that two separate appeals had been entered in respect of the case.
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