The Rivers State House of Assembly has suspended the impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, following the intervention of President Bola Tinubu earlier in the month.

The decision to halt the process was taken on Thursday during plenary at the Assembly’s resumed sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

PUNCH Online had earlier reported that at its first sitting in 2026, the House commenced impeachment proceedings against Fubara and his deputy over alleged gross misconduct.

During the plenary presided over by the Speaker, the Majority Leader, Major Jack, read a notice detailing the allegations of gross misconduct against the governor.

The allegations against the governor and his deputy listed by the House include the demolition of the Assembly complex, extra-budgetary spending, withholding of funds meant for the Assembly Service Commission, alleged refusal to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on the financial autonomy of the legislature, and other acts deemed to constitute gross misconduct.

The House said the notices of allegations were brought pursuant to Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) against the governor and his deputy.

In a letter dated Friday, January 16, 2026, the Assembly requested the state Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Amadi, to set up a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations against Fubara and Odu.

However, Justice Amadi declined the request, stating that he was restrained by a subsisting High Court order from taking further action on the matter.

Fubara and Odu, in separate suits challenging the impeachment process, had secured injunctions from a High Court in Port Harcourt restraining the Chief Judge from acting on the Assembly’s request or constituting the probe panel.

In his response to the Assembly, the Chief Judge also noted that the Speaker and the Rivers State House of Assembly had appealed the restraining order granted by the High Court.

The impeachment proceedings were initiated days after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, accused the governor of reneging on a peace agreement brokered by President Bola Tinubu in 2025.

PUNCH Online reports that Tinubu met with Fubara and Wike on Sunday, February 8, at the President’s official residence in Aso Rock, Abuja.

Confirming the meeting, Wike expressed strong optimism that the lingering political crisis in the state is close to a lasting resolution, following what he described as a decisive intervention by the President.

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The Senate was thrown into mourning on Thursday following the death of the lawmaker representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Barinada Mpigi.

A National Assembly source disclosed that Mpigi died on Thursday at the age of 64 after a brief illness.

Until his death, Mpigi represented Rivers South-East in the 10th National Assembly and chaired the influential Committee on Works, which oversees federal road infrastructure and related projects across the country.

Mpigi began his legislative career in the House of Representatives, where he was first elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2016.

He later moved to the Senate in 2019 after winning an election to represent Rivers South-East on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

During the 9th Assembly, he was appointed chairman of a joint Senate committee set up to investigate crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region — a critical assignment at a time when the country grappled with declining oil revenues and widespread pipeline vandalism.

News of his death filtered into the Senate chamber during Thursday’s proceedings, casting a sombre mood over lawmakers who had gathered for budget defence sessions.

Speaking during the session of the Senate Committee on Culture and Tourism, the lawmaker representing Nasarawa South in the 10th National Assembly, Senator Mohammed Onawo, paid glowing tribute to the late Rivers senator and urged his colleagues to honour his memory.

Lawmakers were subsequently asked to observe a minute’s silence in his honour.

“May his gentle soul rest in peace,” Ogoshi said.

Tributes also poured in from members of the House of Representatives.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, paid tribute to the late senator on his official X handle on Thursday.

He wrote, “Good night, my dear friend. Rest in Peace, Senator Mpigi Barinada. Sen Mpigi represented Rivers South East in the Senate”.

Mpigi’s death comes barely three months after the demise of the lawmaker representing Enugu North Senatorial District in the 10th Senate, Senator Okey Ezea.

His family had clarified the circumstances surrounding Ezea’s death at the time, dispelling earlier claims that he died overseas.

In a statement issued from Abuja and signed by his son, Jideofor Ezea, the family confirmed that the senator passed away at a private hospital in Lagos at about 11:07 p.m. on Tuesday after a brief illness.

With Mpigi’s passing, the Senate has once again been confronted with the loss of one of its serving members, deepening concerns over the string of deaths recorded in the current Assembly.

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MUS President Donald Trump on Thursday gathers allies to inaugurate the “Board of Peace,” his new institution focused on progress on Gaza but whose ambitions reach much further.

Around two dozen world leaders or other senior officials have come to Washington for the meeting — including several of Trump’s authoritarian-leaning friends and virtually none of the European democrats that traditionally sign on to US initiatives.

The “Board of Peace” came together after the Trump administration, teaming up with Qatar and Egypt, negotiated a ceasefire in October to halt two years of devastating war in Gaza.

The United States says that the plan has now entered its second phase with a focus on disarming Hamas — the Palestinian militant group whose unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack on Israel triggered the massive offensive.

Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authorities, says at least 601 people have been killed by Israeli forces since the truce began.

At the “Board of Peace” meeting, Trump is expected to detail pledges of more than $5 billion for Gaza, where the vast majority of buildings lie in rubble and the property-mogul-turned-president has improbably suggested developing resorts.

The meeting will also look at how to launch the International Stabilization Force that will ensure security in Gaza.

A key player will be Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country, which has said it is ready to send up to 8,000 troops to Gaza if the force is confirmed.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will take part in the inaugural meeting in Gaza, after joining the launch event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month.

– Progress on Gaza? –

US officials including Steve Witkoff, Trump’s friend and roving negotiator, have insisted that solid progress is being made and that Hamas is feeling pressure to give up weapons.

Israel has suggested sweeping restrictions including seizing small personal rifles from Hamas.

“The heavy weapon, the one that does the most damage, is called an AK-47,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said recently.

“That’s the main weapon, and that has to go,” said Netanyahu, whose government will be represented by the foreign minister.

Jeremy Issacharoff, a strategic affairs expert at Israel’s Reichman University, acknowledged that disarming Hamas would not be a “simple task” but said that for Israel, a credible pathway would be key to determining “whether this exercise can get off the ground.”

In one step towards a new Gaza, a technocratic committee was formed last month to handle day-to-day governance of Gaza headed by engineer and former official Ali Shaath.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that the “Board of Peace” should compel Israel to “stop its violations in Gaza” and to lift its long siege of the territory.

– ‘Ambition and narcissism’ –

The meeting will take place in the building of the US Institute of Peace, a longstanding institution that studied conflict resolution whose staff was fired by Trump, whose name was then chiseled on the entrance.

Under terms laid out by the White House, Trump will wield veto power over the “Board of Peace” and can remain its head even after leaving office, and countries that want to stay on permanently rather than enjoy a two-year stint will need to pay $1 billion.

US officials say Thursday’s meeting is about Gaza but have also spoken of the “Board of Peace” in broader, amorphous terms, saying it can address other global hotspots.

“It’s a confused mix of ambition and narcissism, unleavened by any effort at intellectual coherence,” said Bruce Jones, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The effort comes as Trump thumbs his nose at the United Nations, scaling back funding and withdrawing the United States from key bodies.

– Friends and suitors –

The inaugural meeting will bring ideological allies of Trump including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is facing a tough reelection battle, and Argentina’s President Javier Millei.

Other leaders in attendance include some eager for US attention, such as Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has courted Trump for support in his country’s conflict with India.

But major historic allies of the United States are not participating, including France and Canada.

Japan, usually among the most stalwart US allies, has not decided whether to join the board and will send an envoy handling Gaza.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declined an invitation, saying the board should be limited to Gaza and “include a seat for Palestine.”

Lula last month dubbed Trump’s board “a new UN where only he is the owner.”

AFP

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