A former Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Austin Tam George, has dismissed the fresh impeachment notice issued against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, describing it as “dead on arrival” and driven purely by politics rather than law.
Speaking on Arise News on Thursday, Tam George said the impeachment move followed the governor’s recent defection to the All Progressives Congress, which he argued had unsettled existing power calculations in the state.
He said, “Well, Charles, I think you answered the question somewhat by yourself when you said that Governor Fubara’s pivot to the APC over three weeks ago has threatened the calculus of power in Rivers State.
“The defection of the governor has obviously threatened the original leverage that the Wike camp had, and they are now trying to reassert that leverage.”
Tam George accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of destabilising governance in Rivers State, recalling his personal experience serving under the former governor.
The former commissioner said, “Nyesom Wike has been a complete pestilence on Rivers State. I served in his administration. I resigned precisely because of his propensity for chaos, instability, and reducing government to a personality cult.”
According to him, the impeachment attempt is targeted at halting Governor Fubara’s rising popularity and what he described as people-focused governance.
Tam George praised the governor’s performance, insisting that public funds were now being channelled into social development rather than political patronage.
He said, “Governor Fubara has been an excellent administrator. He is spending money to build people’s capacity, lifting communities out of poverty. Funds that would have gone to political godfathers are now being invested in education, health, housing, and rural development.”
Highlighting achievements, he added, “Almost all tertiary healthcare systems have been revived, alongside 122 primary healthcare centres across the 23 local government areas. In housing, over 20,000 units are being developed. Just two weeks ago, he commissioned the first phase of 1,000 houses. In eight years of the Wike administration, not a single house was built for civil servants.”
No Legal Grounds For Impeachment – Tam George
The former commissioner questioned the substance of the allegations contained in the impeachment notice, arguing that they lacked specificity.
He said, “What exactly are the legal arguments? There are none as far as I can see. If you look very carefully at the so-called articles of impeachment, there is no specificity in terms of any infraction by the governor or his deputy.”
He also dismissed claims that the governor acted unlawfully regarding the 2025 budget.
Tam George said, “The 2025 budget was already prepared, vetted by the National Assembly, and assented to by the President. Why would the Assembly ask the governor to re-present a budget that is already law?”
He alleged that the impeachment move was designed to prevent Governor Fubara from securing a second term.
He further said, “Just two days ago, Nyesom Wike made it clear that if Governor Fubara gets a second term, it would amount to his own political burial. So this impeachment is an attempt to scuttle the governor’s second-term prospects.”
He called on the APC leadership to defend the governor, describing him as the party’s leader in Rivers State with one of the strongest performance records nationwide.
“They cannot allow a governor of his calibre to be humiliated by some members of the House acting as political puppets,” he said.
‘People Will Resist State Capture’
Tam George further alleged that members of the Rivers State House of Assembly were acting under external influence rather than in the public interest.
“They see Nyesom Wike as their boss. The real puppeteer engineering all of this is Wike himself,” he said.
Warning that removing the governor would destabilise the state, he maintained that public sentiment was firmly behind Fubara.
Tam George added, “This is an existential struggle for Rivers State. The people will resist and defeat this attempt at state capture for personal gratification.”