As the declaration of State of Emergency and suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by President Bola Tinubu continues to trail reactions, the former governor of the Rivers state, Mr Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi said with the development, the President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in state.
Though the state seemed to be calm following the state of emergency declaration, THISDAY observed military patrol teams piloting in the streets of Port Harcourt, the state capital. It was also observed that the governor and his team have long moved out from the government house, but his whereabouts are yet to be ascertained as at the time of this report.
In a statement made available to journalists in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, Amaechi who is the immediate past Minister of Transportation, noted that a democratically elected State Governor cannot be removed from office by a proclamation of the President.
He stated that the suspension is a dangerous affront on Nigeria’s Constitution and democracy.
According to the former Rivers governor “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.”
He stressed that “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.
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(NGF), 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 that have spoken against the unlawful suspension”, Amaechi added.
Also, reacting to the development, a Rivers statesman, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe said the President should explain to Nigerians what Governor Fubara did to deserve suspension.
Speaking with THISDAY, Sara-Igbe said “Rivers State has been peaceful, no fight, no quarrel, no killing. But what prompted the state of emergency is something I don’t understand and that is why I will like Mr President to expatiate further and why did he speared Wike.
At the same time the present administrator he appointed is already in the news, on social media with Wike. So what do they want to achieve, we want to know.
“If by any reason President Tinubu felt there is problem in Rivers State and Wike is one of the architect of the problem, why did he spare Wike, his Minister. He is the one igniting fire in the state, at the same time calling for a state of emergency.”
Sara-Igbe continued that “Rivers people will want to know what Siminalayi Fubara committed to deserve the suspension. It is very obvious that this is a pre-planned event, there is no crisis in Rivers state to warrant state of emergency.
“If he say two people are fighting, Wike is still a minister: why did he not caution Wike or suspend him, why must he suspend the most peaceful governor we have in the state. Is it because he is not a trouble maker, because he is quiet.”
Also, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka, has condemned President Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers.
He said “Nigerians and the international community are in the know that the lingering political altercation between Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on one part and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and his bandwagon of moronic Assembly members, on the other part, is a deliberate ploy by the Tinubu administration to capture Rivers State either by hook or crook.”
In a statement made available to the journalists, Chief Eze said Mr President’s stance in the circumstance reinforces and points to his long perceived biased leaning in the whole imbroglio.
“In fact, Mr. President fuelled the crisis and pushed the narrative through the FCT Minister and his lackeys in the State Assembly.” He wondered where the President derived his powers to suspend a democratically elected Governor.
“On several occasions, more particularly in 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan declared state of emergency in some terrorist-infested states in the northeast region without removing the Governors of those states because he was properly guided to understand that such action is ultra vires his powers and if taken would undermine the basic principles of democracy, escalate the crisis and occasion political unrest.
“The reason preferred by President Tinubu in his emergency rule over Rivers State is a clear pointer that the Nigerian government under Tinubu cares more about oil money than it does about human life.”
He alleged that “Since the President took over power in 2023, Nigerians have died in droves; in hundreds and thousands from terrorist attacks, herdsmen invasions, hunger, and other nefarious acts from non-state actors in different parts of the country to warrant a declaration of state of emergency, but he never did; but a mere threat to oil facility has prodded the President to act with the swiftness of a magic wand. So, in Nigeria, oil facilities matter more to government than human life”.
The APC chief, who noted that President Tinubu’s action smacks of sheer cowardice, and called on the Governor, Rivers people to remain calm, peaceful and law abiding”, said “By this unpatriotic, ill-advised and pre-meditated act of national disgrace, Tinubu has really shown he is not what Nigerians think of him.
“At his age, experience and considering his leadership and managerial acumen, one would have thought that President Tinubu would be patriotic, humane, unbiased, upright and truthful in the handling of the political crisis in Rivers State.”
Eze counselled President Tinubu to face governance, adopt socio-economic policies that will remove poverty and hardship on the faces of Nigerians, and slow down on his calculation ahead the 2027 general election.
