By Desire Emmanuel
The Rivers State House of Assembly has written to the Rivers State Chief Judge, Justice Chibuzor Amadi, requesting the appointment of a panel of seven persons to investigate allegations of gross misconduct against Governor Siminalaye Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu.
The decision was taken during plenary on Friday, January 16, with 25 lawmakers voting in favour of the motion to forward the matter to the chief judge for further probe, in line with Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The allegations against the governor and his deputy include budgetary impropriety, failure to present the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the assembly, unauthorised expenditure of public funds, withholding of statutory allocations to the legislature, and other acts deemed to constitute gross misconduct.
Martins Amaewhule, speaker of the house, who presided over the session, directed the clerk to formally write to the chief judge within the stipulated timeframe to constitute a seven-member investigative panel to examine the claims.
The letter, addressed to the chief judge, reads in part: “I write to request that you appoint a panel of seven persons to investigate the allegations of gross misconduct against His Excellency, Sir Siminalaye Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State pursuant to Section 188(5) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“At the 60th Legislative Day of the Third Session of the 10th Assembly, the House resolved in compliance with Section 188(4) of the constitution that these allegations be investigated.”
It was gathered that four of the members of the House who initially opted out of the impeachment process of the governor and the deputy, reportedly made a U-turn on Friday and joined the Assembly in asking the chief judge to investigate them.
