PORT HARCOURT — The political crisis rocking Rivers State intensified this week as Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, publicly accused Governor Siminialayi Joseph Fubara of deliberately marginalising lawmakers and undermining democratic governance in the oil-rich state. The Speaker’s rebuke came at an emergency press briefing on Thursday alongside ten members of the Assembly who aligned themselves with his position.
Amaewhule described Governor Fubara’s recent attempt to shift blame for the lack of legislative engagement onto party leadership as “unnecessary and unfortunate,” saying it was Fubara not the legislators who had shown an unwillingness to work collaboratively with the House. The Speaker accused the governor of operating outside constitutional norms, alleging that since assuming office he has been spending from both the 2024 and 2025 appropriations without proper approval from the Assembly a claim that strikes at the heart of the separation of powers.
The clash follows Fubara’s comments earlier in the week that he had not been able to meet with state lawmakers because the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, had not yet convened the agreed meeting between parties. Amaewhule dismissed this explanation as a diversion from substantive governance issues and a repeating falsehood that risked being accepted as truth if left unchallenged.
At the core of the tensions is a broader political crisis that predates Fubara’s administration, including disputes over the legitimacy and composition of the Rivers State House of Assembly. In February 2025, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Amaewhule as the authentic Speaker of the Assembly and upheld the legitimacy of his bloc of lawmakers, a ruling that government critics say Fubara has been slow to embrace fully in practice.
Speaker Amaewhule accused the governor of defaulting on all agreements reached with the Assembly and of working “tirelessly for another round of political crisis” in a state already marked by bitter factional divides. He called on Fubara to “brace up” and lead with the interests of the Rivers people in mind, warning that citizens have already “suffered too much because of the governor’s alleged indolence.”
In response, Governor Fubara has denied sidelining lawmakers, insisting that reports of a feud are “pure lies” and that he has made efforts to engage legislators but that logistical arrangements including the role of party leadership have delayed formal meetings. Speaking at the commissioning of the Ahoada-Omoku Road, Fubara said he bore no personal grievance against the lawmakers and denied refusing to meet them, placing blame for delays on organizational matters with party leadership.
Fubara also reiterated his commitment to delivering on development goals, asserting that state projects such as the dualised Ahoada-Omoku Road demonstrate his administration’s focus on tangible progress despite political headwinds. He described himself as a “principled leader” awaiting proper scheduling of consultations and urged lawmakers not to misconstrue pauses in legislative engagement as hostility.
The standoff reflects persistent institutional strain in Rivers State, where political alignments, contested legitimacy and competing power centres including federal party figures have complicated governance. With both sides trading assertions and defenses, the crisis shows few signs of resolution in the immediate term, underscoring ongoing challenges to cohesive leadership and democratic functioning in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important states.