The political crisis rocking Rivers State may not end soon after the House of Assembly wrote to the Chief Judge, requesting a probe of the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, over alleged gross misconduct.
The lawmakers added that a seven-man investigative panel be constituted by the judge to evaluate the governor and his deputy’s activities as stipulated by the 1999 constitution.
This came hours after four lawmakers, who had earlier appealed for a halt on the impeachment move against Fubara and Odu, made a U-turn and joined their colleagues to seek the impeachment of the governor.
In the request made on Friday through a letter signed by the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, in line with the provisions of Section 188(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), they argued that the letter was in accordance with the law.
According to the Assembly, the decision followed a resolution reached at the 60th legislative day of the Third Session of the 10th Assembly, where lawmakers considered and adopted a notice of allegations of gross misconduct against the governor and his deputy.
Amaewhule stated that the House acted in strict compliance with Section 188(4) of the Constitution, which empowers it to invite the Chief Judge to set up an investigative panel whenever such allegations are raised against the governor or deputy governor.
“The House resolved that the allegations be investigated in the interest of constitutional order, transparency, and good governance,” the Speaker noted.
The letter requested the Chief Judge to appoint “seven persons of unquestionable integrity” to conduct the investigation and submit their findings to the Assembly.
As of the time of filing this report, the Rivers State Government has yet to officially react to the move by the lawmakers, while the Chief Judge has yet to announce the constitution of the investigative panel.
