Politics
TIMELINE of Wike-Fubara fight, Rivers political crisis since 2023
The crisis within Rivers State traced back to October 2023 following the political fallout between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, now FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Wike and Fubara have been locked in a protracted fight over the control of the political structures in Rivers State.
On 7th October 2024, three local government secretariats were set ablaze in Rivers.
In December 2023, the 27 lawmakers “defected” from the PDP to the APC, triggering a constitutional debate.
In response, the Rivers State High Court declared the seats of the defecting lawmakers vacant. The decision was challenged, leading to a series of legal battles.
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.
The Labour Party in Imo State is engulfed in a bitter leadership clash as the Callistus Ihejiagwa-led faction warns members not to participate in any party activities not sanctioned by his leadership.
The warning comes in response to claims that Sen. Nenadi Usman and Darlington Nwokocha’s faction plans to hold Ward, LGA, and State congresses starting March 26, 2026—moves Ihejiagwa calls illegal and unconstitutional.
Ihejiagwa insists that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has already refused to dissolve existing party structures, meaning any attempt to replace sitting executives is null and void.
He dismissed arguments that INEC officials attending Usman/Nwokocha’s National Executive Council meeting on March 17 would confer legality, stressing that presence does not equal approval.
March 20, 2026
The All Progressives Grand Alliance in Abia State has called on the Senate to declare the seat of the Senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, vacant following his resignation from the party.
The party made the call on Thursday during a press briefing in Umuahia, where its leadership, led by a former member of the Abia State House of Assembly, Obinna Ichita, insisted that Abaribe voluntarily resigned from APGA and was not sacked, contrary to his claim at the Senate.
Ichita argued that Abaribe’s exit from the party that sponsored his election violates constitutional provisions, stressing that there was no leadership crisis within APGA to justify his defection.
“The senator resigned in his ward. He did so voluntarily, which is his right. However, if you leave the party that gave you the platform for another party when there is no leadership crisis, that seat must be declared vacant,” he said.
He further alleged that Abaribe misrepresented the circumstances of his exit by claiming he was sacked.
“The party has documentary evidence to show that Senator Abaribe was not sacked. He resigned three months after disciplinary measures were taken against him over actions the court did not consider appropriate,” Ichita added.
According to him, the mandate belongs to the people and the party, not the individual office holder.
“They gave him the mandate on the platform of APGA, not any other party. There was nothing like ADC when he was elected. He cannot take the mandate elsewhere without consulting the people who gave it to him,” he said.
Ichita maintained that the constitution is clear on defection, noting that any lawmaker who leaves a party without a valid internal crisis must vacate the seat.
“My message to Senator Abaribe is to honourably vacate the seat instead of waiting for the National Assembly to declare it vacant. That would amount to national embarrassment,” he added.
Also speaking, the APGA State Chairman, Sunday Onukwubiri, and the party’s Public Relations Officer, Chukwuemeka Nwokoro, reiterated that Abaribe had distanced himself from the party’s activities at various levels in the state.
They insisted that he neither holds dual membership nor was he expelled, maintaining that his resignation was voluntary.
“He was invited by the party but failed to appear and was subsequently suspended in line with the party’s constitution. Three months later, he resigned,” the officials said.
Reacting, Abaribe defended his position, insisting that he acted within his constitutional rights.
“When you are no longer a member of a party by virtue of being sent away, you have the fundamental right of association to join another party,” he said.
He argued that his indefinite suspension by APGA effectively amounted to expulsion.
“If a party places you on indefinite suspension for more than six months, what does that mean? It means you have been told to go elsewhere, and that is exactly what I did,” he stated.
The senator added that the proper constitutional procedure for removing him from office would be through a recall process by his constituents.
“If the people who elected me no longer want me, the right thing to do is to initiate a recall. That is the position of the law,” he said.
Politics
Tinubu’s Reforms May Be Challenging, but They’ve Boosted Nigeria’s Global Respect — Information Minister Mohammed Idris
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has stated that Nigeria is receiving greater respect internationally under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Friday after attending Jumaat prayers at Yahaya Road Mosque in Kaduna, Mr Idris said, “Nigeria is indeed taking its rightful place. The country is respected more than ever before on the international scene. The reforms that the president has instituted, as challenging as they are, are meant for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
He urged Nigerians to stay calm as the government continues its efforts to restore security across the nation. Referring to the recent multiple b%mb att@cks in Maiduguri, Borno State, the minister assured that such incidents would not be allowed to recur.
“Indeed, our country is facing challenges, and the government is working tirelessly to ensure security throughout Nigeria. We have seen what has happened, particularly in Borno State. We pray to Allah to make this the last one, as the government is committed to preventing any repetition of such incidents,” he said.
Mr Idris also stressed the importance of citizens being prayerful and working together to address the country’s challenges. He encouraged both Muslims and non-Muslims to unite in the interest of Nigeria’s growth and development.
“This is a time for reflection for all Nigerians. We pray that everyone will consider this moment and recognize the need for unity, progress, and national development. All hands must be on deck for the unity of the country. As we earn respect internationally, we also hope and pray that unity will strengthen within our nation,” he added.
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