Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, has accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of intentionally excluding legislators from governance and “setting the stage for another crisis” in the state.
Amaewhule, accompanied by 10 lawmakers, made the remarks on Thursday during a press briefing in Port Harcourt, responding to comments the governor had made a day earlier.
Governor Fubara had complained on Wednesday that his political benefactor, Nyesom Wike, had not fulfilled a promise to broker a meeting between him and lawmakers aligned with the FCT Minister. The governor, who spoke during a project inauguration, reiterated his commitment to peace and said he was ready to meet the demands of the pro-Wike lawmakers.
However, the Speaker accused the governor of misrepresenting the situation and ignoring the Assembly, saying the reaction was typical of his “reactionary” style. He pointed to the state of the education sector as an example.
Amaewhule insisted that Wike had already organised several meetings in both Abuja and Port Harcourt, which the governor and lawmakers attended.
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He further alleged that since assuming office, Fubara had been unwilling to collaborate with the Assembly, accusing him of drawing from the 2024 and 2025 budgets without legislative consent. According to him, the governor had failed to honour previously agreed terms and was “preparing the grounds for another round of crisis,” even as the Assembly remained committed to peace and President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
The Speaker also claimed that the governor intended to use the N600bn reportedly left behind by the former emergency administrator, Rear Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), “to divide lawmakers and for other frivolities.”
He urged Fubara to “brace up to be the true leader Rivers people desire,” adding that the public had already “suffered too much because of the governor’s alleged indolence.”
Amaewhule said, “Everybody is aware that we are currently on recess, meeting with our constituents… But we all know that a lie told often enough becomes the truth… which is why as the Speaker… I think it is incumbent on me to set the record straight.”
He continued, “The governor alleged that he has not been able to meet with members of the Rivers State House of Assembly because the FCT Minister… has refused to make that possible… We were so disheartened hearing that from our governor… coming at a time when Rivers people are yearning for peace and good governance.”
Calling the governor’s statement “unnecessary and condemnable,” he added, “What the governor is trying to do is to set the stage for another crisis in Rivers State… The governor merely lied to Rivers people… Shortly after the emergency rule was terminated… the FCT Minister summoned a meeting between the governor and us… We met with him in Abuja.”
According to him, additional meetings were held in Port Harcourt at the residence of Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, Chairman of the Elders’ Council.
The Speaker said, “How many meetings have I mentioned? How many meetings does the governor want the FCT Minister to call? Is it a hundred?”
Amaewhule also alleged that the governor had declined to present the 2025 budget.
He added, “In that meeting, the governor told us blatantly that he would not bring a budget… From September when we met… the governor has been spending without our approval… awarding contracts to his cronies… particularly those who masterminded the burning of the Rivers House of Assembly.”
He added, “The governor does not seek the approval of the Rivers House of Assembly to spend. He has been spending from his front pockets.”
On state finances under emergency rule, Amaewhule reiterated, “The outgoing administrator… left over N600bn in the accounts of Rivers State… The governor has been spending it, boasting how he will use the funds to divide the Assembly members.”
He stressed that members were not available for purchase, saying, “Members, are you for sale? No. Not at all!”
Faulting the governor’s approach, he said, “The governor should know… he ought to be a leader… But at the moment, the governor is failing… Disparaging the FCT Minister is not leadership at all… Sending his attack dogs… to insult us on social media won’t help the governor.”
Amaewhule also accused the governor’s media allies of persistently attacking lawmakers online, saying, “Those he is using to insult assembly members… he gives them money, they go to all the television stations and insult us.”
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