LAWYERS under the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) have initiated processes to recall 26 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including Speaker Martins Amaewhule, in response to the impeachment proceedings commenced against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The action follows the lawmakers’ decision on Thursday to begin impeachment proceedings, accusing the governor of gross misconduct and alleged financial impropriety.

ALDRAP disclosed the recall move in a formal correspondence addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking access to crucial electoral materials needed to activate the process.

In particular, the association requested certified true copies (CTCs) of the voters’ register for all Rivers State House of Assembly constituencies, noting that the documents were a statutory requirement for a lawful recall exercise.

READ ALSO: Rivers Assembly begins Fubara’s impeachment over gross misconduct

A copy of the letter, obtained by Economy Post on Friday, stated that several ALDRAP members were registered voters in the affected constituencies, thereby conferring legal standing on the association to commence recall proceedings against the legislators.

The group also cautioned that it would seek judicial intervention to compel INEC to release the voters’ registers should the commission decline the request.

The letter, dated January 8, 2026, and signed by ALDRAP’s Secretary, Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, was entitled: ‘Notice of commencement of recall of Rt. Hon. Martin Amaewhule, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and 25 other legislators who signed the impeachment notice dated 8 January 2026, and request for certified true copies (CTCs) of the voter register of all the state constituencies of the Rivers State House of Assembly.’

ALDRAP argued that the impeachment action contradicted a February 2025 judgment of the Supreme Court, which advised the Rivers State House of Assembly and the governor to resolve their disagreements through peaceful and amicable means.

The association further noted that Governor Fubara and the lawmakers belonged to the same political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), insisting that internal party dispute resolution channels ought to have been explored before resorting to impeachment.

“As a public interest organisation of lawyers, the majority of whom are constituents of the state constituencies of the Rivers State House of Assembly, we hereby demand the aforementioned certified true copies (CTCs) and put your Commission on notice,” the letter read.

ALDRAP also dismissed the impeachment notice against Governor Fubara as ‘dead on arrival,’ citing what it described as fundamental legal flaws in the process.

According to the group, the lawmakers undermined the notice by improperly addressing the governor as ‘madam’ and by failing to obtain the consent or mandate of Rivers State constituents before initiating the impeachment proceedings.

“The notice of impeachment against Governor Fubara is invalid for two legal reasons: the improper manner in which the governor was addressed and the absence of authorisation from the people of Rivers State,” the association stated.

Impeachment proceedings

The Rivers State House of Assembly initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Fubara and his deputy, Prof Odu, over gross misconduct on Thursday.

READ ALSO: Rivers Assembly Speaker: Fubara is a serious risk to democratic governance, a mistake

The move was announced during a plenary session, presided over by the Speaker of the House, Mr Martins Amaewhule, and broadcast live on Channels Television. During the session, the Majority Leader, Mr Major Jack, formally presented the notice of allegations and claims of gross misconduct against the governor.

A total of 26 lawmakers endorsed the notice, which they said was issued in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.

Speaking during the sitting, Mr Amaewhule stated that the notice of allegations would be served on Governor Fubara within the next 7 days.

In a similar development, the Deputy Majority Leader, Ms Linda Stewart, read out the notice of allegations and gross misconduct levelled against the deputy governor, Ms Ngozi Odu.

Wike vs Fubara

Mr Fubara and his political godfather, Mr Nyesom Wike, are locked in a political battle of supremacy in Rivers State. All the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly are loyal to Mr Wike, who is the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under President Bola Tinubu. Mr Wike was expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) late last year but he has carved out his own faction of the party.

He claims he remains a member of the PDP but serves an APC government and has collapsed PDP and All Progressives Congress (APC) structures in Rivers State into one to ensure President Tinubu returns in 2027.

“There is no APC or PDP in Rivers. What we have is Renewed Hope, and everybody must work together to deliver the President,” Mr Wike said on December 28, 2025.

“God detests ungratefulness. Anyone who is not grateful for the good done to him or her will eventually go down,” he stated, referring to Mr Fubara, who he claims to have installed as governor of Rivers State.