…Senate defers debate, reconvenes today
…PDP Govs Forum, Atiku, Amaechi, Obi, NLC, TUC, NBA oppose declaration of emergency rule
By Paul Effiong and Caleb Ishaya
In line with the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu, has sworn in Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas , Retd, as the Sole Administrator of the state.
Tinubu, had on Tuesday, March 18, declared a state of emergency, suspending the Governor of Rivers State , Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other aides of the President witnessed the brief ceremony at the State House, Abuja, Onanuga said.
The presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday.
AljazirahNigeria reports that the state of emergency was the president’s direct response to the lingering political crisis between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly members loyal to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, took a turn for the worst amid a Supreme Court Judgment that reinstated 27 members of the assembly.
The state’s security situation and political tension necessitated the declaration of emergency rule to forestall a total breakdown of law and order, President Tinubu has said this in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Senate, yesterday, moved debate on the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State today.
The debate was postponed due to the delay in the commencement of the plenary scheduled to begin at 3. pm, but Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, who moved the motion, stepped down discussions on the matter citing Order 1(b) of the Senate Standing Orders 2023 (as amended).
The motion was seconded by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro, PDP, Benue South.
In his motion, Senator Bamidele expressed apprehension of the security situation in Rivers State.
“Worried that there is a clear and present danger of the crises as some militants had threatened fire and brimstone, with security reports indicating disturbing incidents of vandalisation of oil pipelines.
“Convinced that there is the need to provide adequate and extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order, and security in Rivers State,” he said.
Reacting to the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State immediate past Minister of Transport and onetime Governor of the state, Honourable Rotimi Amaechi, described the development as a dangerous affront to the nation’s democracy.
Ameachi, in a statement titled “My Immediate Reaction To The Undemocratic, Unconstitutional, Suspension Of Elected State Officials In Rivers State” said that “Unequivocally, I condemn the rather brazen and unilaterally reckless suspension and removal of the Governor of Rivers State, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“With this singular move, Mr President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in Rivers State. This clearly violates our Constitution, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Mr. President swore to uphold.
“Section 188 of the Nigeria Constitution clearly stipulates how a State Governor can be removed from office. And it does not include a fiat declaration, decree or promulgation by Mr. President. Therefore, he cannot appropriate such powers to himself.
“A democratically elected State Governor cannot be removed from office by a proclamation of Mr. President. The suspension of two key democratically elected arms of Government in Rivers State by Mr. President evidently violates our Constitution, even within the scope and interpretation of Section 305 that the President cited in his broadcast.
“The unlawful suspension of elected democratic institutions in my dear Rivers State points to a brazen attempt at power grab in the State by forces and persons who do not have such Constitutional powers. The unfolding events in Rivers State in the past months points to a clear orchestrated plot by some persons to unconstitutionally perpetrate and impose themselves on the people.
“At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our Constitution and rape of our democracy. Mr President must be made to know and understand in unmistakable terms that this illegality cannot stand”.
Therefore, he said that “Politicians across divides should speak up; rise to halt our nation’s descent into totalitarianism. State Governors and Legislators should speak up now. I urge the National Assembly to reject this illegality.
“As a former State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, I am not unaware of the role elected Governors in the country can play to halt this descent and reverse the unlawful actions of Mr. President. I commend the Governors who have spoken against the unlawful suspension.
“The suspension is a very dangerous affront to Nigeria’s Constitution and democracy.”
Similarly, Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, PDPGF, has advised President Bola Tinubu to reverse the state of emergency.
The forum’s Chairman, who is also Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, made the call in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
Mohammed, stated that the emergency rule was illegal and unacceptable for the president to suspend democratically elected officials of a state.
“The PDPGF has noted with concern the suspension of democratically elected officials in Rivers by the president. We state categorically that this is a threat to democracy.
“This is a premeditated attack on Rivers, the PDP and other opposition parties in the country. It is a great threat to democracy, and an ill wind that will blow no one any good.
“It is a dangerous course of action that will not only endanger our hard earned democracy, but deepen crisis in the country”.
For his part, a chieftain of the PDP, Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar described the declared state of emergency in Rivers as an “assault on democracy”.
Abubakar, in a statement following the president’s broadcast described the state of emergency as a “political manipulation and action taken in bad faith.
“Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations.
“Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and Tinubu’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms”, he said.
Also, 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, while reacting to the declaration of the state of emergency in Rivers State, in a post on his X handle yesterday, said the declaration “has plunged us back into a state of lawlessness, hugely undoing the progress we have made in these 26 years of democratic journey”.
Obi said: “The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State is not just reckless—it is a clear attempt to return us to a state of nature and tighten its grip on power at all costs.
“It is a degrading back door imposition of martial rule on a strategic part of the federation with all the implied negatives.
“The political situation on the ground in Rivers State does not justify such an extreme measure, and it is also a biased interpretation of section 305(1) of the 1999 constitution.
“A state of emergency does not mean an elected Governor can be removed unilaterally. This decision does not align with democratic norms or good governance. Instead, it appears to be a predetermined action serving specific interests rather than the collective good of the people of Rivers State and Nigeria.
“This action constitutes an unconstitutional overreach, setting a dangerous precedent that threatens democracy, the rule of law, and the separation of powers. If left unchecked, it could foster a culture of impunity.
“Having already been grappling with non-adherence to electoral qualifications, rules, and massive rigging, adding arbitrary removal of elected officials will push us to a state of nature and anarchy.
“I appeal to the National Assembly and all stakeholders not to allow this to stand, as it only deepens the culture of impunity and brigand already threatening our democracy.
Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, strongly condemned Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
In a joint statement yesterday, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, faulted the move as “hasty and unconstitutional,” arguing that it violated Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.
“This reckless move should deeply concern every governor and citizen who believes in the rule of law.
“No democratic society can thrive where elected leaders are arbitrarily removed at the whims of the President”, the statement read in parts.
