Rivers state, Port Harcourt – A group of lawyers from Rivers State on Friday, May 2, staged a protest at the United States Embassy in Abuja in support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state, describing the move as constitutional and necessary to preserve democracy.
The lawyers described the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara as a “danger to democracy,” citing his alleged demolition of the state legislature building and worsening political tensions that, according to them, threatened to plunge the state into anarchy.
A group of lawyers in Rivers state have backed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of an emergency rule.
In a protest staged on Friday, May 2 at the United States Embassy in Abuja, the lawyers affirmed that the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara “demolished the legislature and he is a danger to democracy.”
Legit.ng reported that on Tuesday, March 18, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers state, citing escalating political unrest and security concerns.
The lawyers said:
“Our reason is very simple. We believe that the president’s action is constitutional, unavoidable and was designed to avoid breakdown of law and order in Rivers state.
“We are all aware, shortly before the proclamation, the happening in Rivers state showed that the state was on the verge of anarchy.”
“We urge the United States of America to support Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers to deepen democracy, that is our mission here.”
Speaking further, a female lawyer said:
“We are here because there has been a lot of misconceptions about the action taken by Mr. President and the National Assembly. We want to set the record straight that the law is right that any administrative action taken is valid until set aside by a court of law.
“Right now the administrative action taken is the state of emergency declared by the president and its remains valid until it has been set aside by the court. That matter is in court and it out of place for members of the public to start deciding upon it. We choose the United states Embassy because as we know, the father of democracy is a past president of the United States and we feel that if there is any country that is going to guide us properly as far as democracy is concerned, because democracy is not an indigenous idea of Nigeria, it is going to be the United States.”
Meanwhile, this protest came days after a group of lawyers, known as Lawyers in Defence of Democracy, staged a counter-protest calling for the reversal of Tinubu’s declaration, labelling it unconstitutional and appealing to the international community, including the United States, to intervene in the Rivers crisis.
Watch the video as the lawyers protest below:
Read more about Rivers crisis here:
Fubara visited Wike, begged for reconciliation
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Rivers state governor Siminalayi Fubara reportedly visited Nyesom Wike, at his Abuja residence, seeking reconciliation weeks after his suspension.
Fubara was accompanied to Wike’s residence by Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state and Olusegun Osoba, a former governor of Ogun.
A close source and Wike’s aide, Lere Olayinka confirmed the meeting and shared further details amid the emergency rule in Rivers.
