Arise News Editor for Politics, Sumner Sambo, has said that the Rivers State House of Assembly must provide evidence that it formally served Governor Siminalayi Fubara with an impeachment notice in line with constitutional provisions.
Sambo made the assertion on Monday while speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, amid ongoing controversy surrounding impeachment proceedings against the Rivers State governor.
According to him, Governor Fubara has maintained that he has not been officially served with the notice, making it necessary for the House of Assembly to demonstrate compliance with the procedures outlined in the Constitution.
He explained that once the governor and his deputy are duly served, they are required to respond in writing to the impeachment notice.
The response, he said, must be submitted to the Speaker of the House, who will then circulate it to other lawmakers before formally requesting the Chief Judge of the state to constitute an investigative panel.
Sambo noted that the impeachment process can only proceed lawfully after these steps are followed, adding that the current stage of the matter hinges on whether proper service was effected and acknowledged by the governor.
He further stated that even if the governor chooses not to respond to the notice, the Constitution provides clear procedures to address such a situation.
He said: “And let’s not be emotional as Nigerians on this specific issue, the Rivers state governor is actually saying that he has not been officially served. So we’ll need the Rivers State House of Assembly to provide evidence that they served the governor on this notice in line with the constitutional provisions of Section 181 and then it goes down.
“Because that provision also says that once the governor and his deputy in this instance are served, they will have to write back their reply to address the impeachment notice, and then the reply will be taken back to the Speaker. And then the Speaker will now circulate it to members of the State House of Assembly.Then before writing the chief judge of the state requesting for a panel to be set up. And then, of course, the panel will be set up. And then, of course, the procedure continues.
“So at the stage we are in right now, we need the River State House of Assembly to prove indeed that they served the governor and then the governor received it, and whether the governor has decided to reply to the impeachment notice or not, because if the governor doesn’t reply to it, there are also provisions to follow.
“So in all of this, I think to put aside all the motions if we are to follow the legality of this matter. Section 188 is very clear, unambiguous, and that’s why we have the Rivers State House of Assembly having its own legal department, just like the state executive, chaired by Governor fubara, also has an attorney general of the state, and I’m very sure that if they follow this procedure unemotionally, they won’t have a challenge.”
