Kano – Rabiu Kwankwaso, the national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), has condemned the unanimous ratification of President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by the 10th National Assembly.
Kwankwaso, the NNPP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, also blasted the national assembly for voting in support of the unilateral suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and members of the state House of Assembly, while describing the lawmakers as a rubber stamp assembly.
Rivers: Kwankwaso recalled NASS’ failure on June 12
The former governor of Kano and senator who represented Kano Central senatorial district in the 8th Senate travelled down memory lane and recalled the mistake of the National Assembly in the aborted Third Republic. He also talked about the nullification of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was adjudged to be the freest and fairest election in the country’s history.
According to Kwankwaso, the Godswill Akpabio and Tajudeen Abbas-led national assembly should have reverted President Tinubu’s misdeed on the political crisis rocking Rivers but decided to vote in support of the illegal decision of the president. He said that the situation was “appalling”, seeing the current national assembly becoming “more rubberstamp than any of its predecessors.”
His statement reads in part:
“The legislature has the responsibility to hold the executive responsible and not always play to its tune. It is, therefore, appalling to see this 10th Assembly become more rubberstamp than any of its predecessors.”
See the full statement here:
When did Tinubu suspend Governor Fubara?
President Tinubu, on Tuesday, March 18, made a bold decision on the political crisis rocking Rivers. He declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich state, as the parties involved refused to find lasting peace between the aggrieved camps.
The two political titans in the state, Governor Fubara and the immediate past governor of Rivers and minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, have been at loggerheads barely six months after the former took over the mantle of leadership.
During the broadcast, Tinubu announced the suspension of the governor, his deputy and the lawmakers in the Rivers state House of Assembly. The president subsequently appointed Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired vice-admiral, as the state’s administrator.
Fubara reacts to Tinubu’s allegations
Legit.ng earlier reported that the suspended Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has denied the allegations levelled against him by President Bola Tinubu while declaring a state of emergency.
Fubara, who was suspended by President Tinubu for an initial six months, described the allegation of aiding militant attacks on oil installations as baseless.
The governor also said that the State House of Assembly complex he demolished was being reconstructed and already at 80% completion.
