Legal practitioner and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo, has warned that Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State risks losing six months of his constitutionally guaranteed four-year term if he vacates office on 29 May 2027.
Okonkwo made this point while reacting to the six-month emergency rule imposed by President Bola Tinubu, which temporarily removed Fubara from office and installed retired naval officer Ibok-Ete Ibas as administrator of the state.
He argued that the lost months should be added to Fubara’s tenure, stressing that the constitution guarantees a full four-year term. He maintained that the governor’s mandate should therefore end on 29 November 2027, not May 2027.
“This is not about antagonising whoever declared the emergency,” Okonkwo said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “The constitution is clear: a governor serves four years from the date of swearing-in. Fubara’s six months were illegally taken away, and Rivers people have a right to the complete four years they voted for.”
The six-month suspension of Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and state lawmakers followed a political crisis involving the governor, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, and House Speaker Martin Amaewhule. President Tinubu lifted the emergency rule last Wednesday.