A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Austin Okai, has described the ongoing impeachment proceedings against Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara as evidence that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has betrayed him.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with newsmen,, Okai alleged that elements within the Presidency had failed to protect the governor, despite earlier expectations of intervention to halt the impeachment process.
“Fubara is having problems; APC has betrayed him,” Okai said. “If the Presidency was truly protecting him as some people claimed, the impeachment process should have died down by now.”
He argued that the governor’s decision to seek relief from a local court showed his political vulnerability, adding that Fubara no longer appeared to have control over members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“You now have a sitting governor who does not have control of his own House of Assembly members,” Okai said, describing the situation as a political setback.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Dekina/Bassa federal constituency further claimed that the impeachment plot was designed to limit Fubara to a single term in office.
He suggested that the APC may have weighed Fubara’s political value against that of former Rivers governor and current Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, questioning whether the ruling party still needed Fubara politically.
Meanwhile, a Rivers elder statesman, Wenendah Wali, said it was difficult to predict whether the impeachment move would succeed, noting that Nigerian politics often defies simple logic.
Wali stressed that impeachment is a constitutional process with clearly defined stages, from motions in the House of Assembly to the possible constitution of a seven-member investigative panel by the Chief Judge of the state.
According to him, the outcome now largely depends on the Chief Judge and any panel that may be set up to examine the allegations against the governor.
“If they find that the governor breached the grounds for impeachment, the panel’s decision is final and cannot be overruled by the House of Assembly,” Wali explained.
He added, however, that until the Chief Judge decides whether to constitute the panel, the fate of the impeachment process remains uncertain, with much of the current debate amounting to speculation.
