Breaking: Rivers Assembly Issues Arrest Warrant Against Top Public Official, Details Emerge

Breaking: Rivers Assembly Issues Arrest Warrant Against Top Public Official, Details Emerge

  • The Rivers state house of assembly has issued a warrant for the chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Justice Adolphus Enebeli (rtd), to appear before it
  • The Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly issued the arrest warrant on Monday, March 10, during plenary, after the expiration of its 72-hour ultimatum for the electoral chief to appear before the House
  • Enebeli had fixed August 9, 2025, to conduct a fresh local government (LG) poll in the state following a Supreme Court verdict that annulled the October 5, 2024 local government poll conducted in the state

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria.

Port Harcourt, Rivers state - The Rivers state house of assembly has issued a warrant of arrest against the chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Justice Adolphus Enebeli.

As reported on Monday, March 10, by Leadership, this follows Enebeli's alleged refusal to appear before the house.

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Rivers Assembly orders electoral chief’s arrest over missed summons
The Rivers state house of assembly has issued an arrest warrant for Justice Adolphus Enebeli (Rtd), chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. Photos credit: @selahmeditate
Source: Twitter

Channels Television also noted the development.

Martins Amaewhule-led house had during its plenary on Monday, issued the arrest warrant after the expiration of its 72-hour ultimatum for Enebeli to appear before the house. Amaewhule is an ally of Nyesom Wike, the federal capital territory (FCT) minister.

RSIEC had fixed August 9, 2025, to conduct a fresh local government election in the state following a Supreme Court verdict that annulled the October 5, 2024, LG polls conducted in the state.

In the election, the Action Peoples Party (APP) was declared the winner of 22 chairmanship seats out of the 23 local government areas of the states.

Lingering political crisis in Rivers state

Oil-rich Rivers state has been engulfed in crisis since October 2023 after some lawmakers loyal to minister Wike initiated impeachment proceedings against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

The power tussle between the governor and his predecessor (and former godfather) has since split the 31-member assembly into two warring factions. That development led to the bombing of a section of the state assembly complex.

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Breaking: Fubara sends invitation to Speaker Amaewhule, Rivers assembly members, details emerge

Meanwhile, Fubara has spent most of his time mired in political survival at the expense of governance and development of the state.

Similarly, Wike has spent more time on the politics of Rivers state than on his primary assignment in Abuja.

Rivers assembly issues warrant of arrest for RISIEC chairman
The Rivers assembly has issued a warrant of arrest for the RSIEC boss amid Nyesom Wike and Siminalayi Fubara feud. Photo credits: Nyesom Ezenwo Wike - CON, GSSRS, Sir Siminalayi Fubara
Source: Facebook

Read more on Rivers' crisis:

Fubara: Pro-Wike lawmakers revive impeachment plot

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Rivers state house of assembly accused Governor Fubara of violating the Nigerian constitution.

The lawmakers accused Fubara of appointing people to serve as commissioners without their approval.

The accusation against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor came two days after the pro-Wike lawmakers—in a letter signed by the speaker, Amaewhule—handed Fubara 48 hours to present the 2025 budget to them and five days after Wike said the governor has committed impeachable offences.

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Ridwan Adeola avatar

Ridwan Adeola (Current Affairs Editor) Ridwan Adeola Yusuf is a content creator with more than nine years of experience, He is also a Current Affairs Editor at Legit.ng. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from the Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State (2014). Ridwan previously worked at Africa Check, contributing to fact-checking research works within the organisation. He is an active member of the Academic Excellence Initiative (AEI). In March 2024, Ridwan completed the full Google News Initiative Lab workshop and his effort was recognised with a Certificate of Completion. Email: ridwan.adeola@corp.legit.ng.