Groups Call For Presidential Intervention In Rivers State To Avert Threat To National Democracy.

By Ferdinand Olise

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP), and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organizations, CNCSOs, have in the interest of democracy, peace, and national stability, demanded the immediate termination of all impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and an independent investigation into the conduct of the Rivers State House of Assembly in relation to the impeachment plot.

The CNPP, and CNCSOs at a joint World Press Conference in Abuja on Sunday, on the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, also demanded a presidentially ordered probe into allegations of conditional political settlements involving the FCT Minister, a full comprehensive forensic audit of all funds received and expended by Rivers State during the six-month emergency rule, and full accountability for FAAC allocations, and internally generated revenues during the emergency period.

Also in their demand include for the recognition of Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the legitimate leader of the APC in Rivers State, a high-level mediation process focused on restoring constitutional order, not political domination, and a clear safeguards to prevent the weaponisation of State legislatures across Nigeria.

In a communique read by the Chairman, Elders Forum, Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations, CNCSOs, Baba Abubakar El-Nafaty, the Organisations warned that impeachment without just cause is political banditry, and that the continued weaponisation of legislative institutions is a direct threat to Nigeria’s democracy and national peace.

The Coalition therefore warned that if Rivers State is allowed to descend further into the crisis, Nigeria risks setting a precedent that can destabilise the entire federation as weaponisation State House of Assembly.

“Our intervention is driven by a solemn patriotic duty to defend constitutional democracy, protect the mandate of the people of Rivers State, and avert a dangerous political precedent that now threatens national peace and democracy. What is unfolding in Rivers State goes far beyond local politics. It represents a critical test of Nigeria’s commitment to constitutional governance, separation of powers, and democratic stability.

“Nigeria cannot afford a situation where state legislatures become tools of regime change rather than institutions of governance. Such a trajectory would undermine federalism, deepen political insecurity, and threaten the fragile democratic order Nigerians have struggled to sustain since 1999.

“If the Rivers State template is allowed to stand—where a legislature is openly deployed to intimidate, destabilise, and remove a sitting governor for political and financial control—then Nigeria risks sliding into a future where state assemblies across the country become battlegrounds for elite power struggles. If every governor becomes vulnerable to impeachment at the whim of external political forces, where then is the sovereignty of the people? Where does democratic stability reside?

“The political crisis in Rivers State did not arise from governance failure, incompetence, or constitutional breach by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Rather, it is the product of a calculated political project aimed at seizing control of State power through the manipulation of legislative institutions.

“Governor Siminalayi Fubara has not committed any act that meets the constitutional threshold for impeachment under Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. There is no credible allegation of gross misconduct, no paralysis of governance, and no popular uprising demanding his removal.

“What we are witnessing is the weaponisation of a State House of Assembly as an instrument of political conquest rather than a guardian of democracy. This development is not only reckless; it is extremely dangerous to Nigeria’s national peace.

The CNPP, and the CNCSOs therefore called on President Bola Tinubu, to act decisively and urgently on the matter which they described as national democratic emergency.

“Failure to act now risks legitimising legislative anarchy and encouraging similar crises across other States, with dire consequences for national unity and peace. In other words, the development in Rivers State constitutes a grave threat to national peace, and Nigeria’s still-consolidating democracy.

The CNPP and the over seventy-five Civil Society Organizations operating under the Coalition of CNCSOs, added that Nigeria’s democracy must be protected.