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Siminalayi Fubara
Nigerian accountant and politician (born 1975) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Amaopusenibo Siminalayi Fubara (born 28 January 1975), better known as Siminalayi Fubara, is a Nigerian politician and accountant who has served as the governor of Rivers State since 2023. He previously served as accountant general of Rivers State from 2020 to 2022.[1] He was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on 18 March 2025 alongside his deputy and all state legislators over unmanaged crisis in his state.[2]
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Fubara is an ethnic Ibani-Ijaw, and was born in Opobo Town in the Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State.[3][4]
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Early life and education
He was born in Opobo Town in the Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State. He completed his primary education at Opobo Primary School and attended Comprehensive Secondary School, Opobo, before proceeding to study Accountancy at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology. He got his MBA and MSc in 2013 and 2016 respectively from the University of Port Harcourt.[5]
Career
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Fubara started his career in 2003 as a Principal Accountant with the Rivers State Senior Secondary Schools Board. He rose to the position of Director of Finance and Accounts at the State's government house in 2015 and rose to the position of Permanent Secretary in March 2020. He was appointed the Accountant General of Rivers State on December 23, 2020, up till May 2022, when he won the People's Democratic Party governorship primaries for the 2023 general elections.
He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management, Fellow of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.[6]
Projects
As Rivers State Governor, Sim Fubara signed a N195.3 billion contract with Julius Berger for the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road project. The project when completed would traverse six local government areas of the state, thereby decongesting Port Harcourt.[7] Fubara further stated the State would pay over NGN150 billion advance for the project.[8]
Suspension
On 18 March 2025, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, giving him the extraordinary powers as provided by the Nigerian Constitution, to suspend Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the state's house of assembly.[9][10] The Nigerian President cited months of 'intense political instability' and 'crisis' in the state, which he said had "paralysed governance" and "threatened national stability."[11] Tinubu said during a national broadcast,
“𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐌𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲, 𝐌𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐠𝐨𝐳𝐢 𝐎𝐝𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬."[12]
The president, following the suspension, appointed a former Chief of the Nigerian Navy, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, as the Sole Administrator of the state for the period.[13]
Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution permits the President to declare a state of emergency in all or part of the country given some exigent conditions, allowing him to exercise extraordinary powers.[14]
Following Tinubu's action, seven state governments, led by governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), sued him at the Supreme Court,[15] challenging his decision to suspend Rivers State's democratically elected officials.
The plaintiffs argued that the president had no powers to suspend a democratically elected governor and deputy governor, and that the National Assembly's approval of the state of emergency was invalid. They urged the court to declare the president's actions as unconstitutional and nullify the appointment of a sole administrator to oversee Rivers State.
Analysts say the case has the potential to set a precedent,[16] as there's been no judicial precedent on the constitutionality of emergency rule removal of elected officials under Nigeria's 1999 Constitution. The Supreme Court will have to decide whether the seven states have the legal right to sue, despite not being directly affected by the proclamation.
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Controversy
In May 2022, Fubara and 58 other government officials were declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for a NGN 435 billion fraud. He was also wanted for a NGN 117 billion fraud alongside four other Rivers State government officials. Additional charges by the EFCC included alleged criminal conspiracy, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds, and abuse of office.[17][18][19]
Personal life
Fubara is the second of five children and the first son of Late Joseph Fubara, a former soldier who had an overseas training tour of duty, and Late Love Fubara, a civil servant. He is also a knight of St. Christopher (KSC) Order of Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion. He holds the traditional title of Amaopu-Senibo of Opobo Kingdom. He is married to Valerie Fubara and they have three children.[20]
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References
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