The Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) has asked the national assembly to “reject any unconstitutional attempt to ratify” the suspension of Siminalayi Fubara as governor of Rivers state.
The NBA said President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Fubara is illegal and a “dangerous affront” to the country’s democracy.
Tinubu on Tuesday announced the suspension of the governor, his deputy and the members of the Rivers assembly while declaring emergency rule in the state.
In response, the NBA said emergency declaration does not “automatically dissolve or suspend elected state governments”.
NBA President Afam Osigwe said the law body is “gravely concerned” by the development, adding that “such actions amount to an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a fundamental breach of Nigeria’s federal structure”.
“The 1999 Constitution does not grant the President the power to remove an elected governor, deputy governor, or members of a state’s legislature under the guise of a state of emergency,” the NBA president said in a statement.
“Rather, the Constitution provides clear procedures for the removal of a governor and deputy governor as per Section 188. Similarly, the removal of members of the House of Assembly and dissolution of parliament is governed by constitutional provisions and electoral laws, none of which appear to have been adhered to in the present circumstances.
“The NBA firmly asserts that the situation in Rivers State, though politically tense, does not meet the constitutional threshold for the removal of elected officials.
“The NBA questions whether the political crisis in Rivers State has reached the level of a complete breakdown of law and order warranting the removal of the Governor and his administration.
“Political disagreements, legislative conflicts, or executive-legislative tensions do not constitute a justification for emergency rule. Such conflicts should be resolved through legal and constitutional mechanisms, including the judiciary, rather than executive fiat.”
The NBA warned that suspending elected officials under emergency rule could be potentially “misused to unseat elected governments in the future”.
Similarly, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said Tinubu’s action reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.
Atiku, in a post on X.com, alleged that the President had been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers, adding that “his blatant refusal or calculated negligence in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful.’’
He wrote, “Beyond the political scheming in Rivers, the brazen security breaches that led to the condemnable destruction of national infrastructure in the state land squarely on the President’s desk.
Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent. It is an unforgivable failure that under Tinubu’s watch, the Niger Delta has been thrown back into an era of violent unrest and instability — undoing the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations.
“If federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President bears full responsibility. Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and @officialABAT’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms.’’
The People’s Democratic Party rejected the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, stated that President Tinubu does not have the authority to suspend a democratically elected governor.
Ologunagba reasoned, “The People’s Democratic Party and indeed, Nigerians listened with dismay the national broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in which the President, in utter violation of the 1999 Constitution pronounced an imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State
“The PDP outright rejects this attempt by the President to override the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and undermine the votes and Will of the people of Rivers State by seeking to depose a democratic government and foist an undemocratic rule in the State.
“The unconstitutional declaration by President Tinubu of the suspension of the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and appointment of an unelected individual, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (retd.) to govern the state is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, an abrogation of the votes and democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.
“The action of Mr President therefore clearly borders on attempt at state capture. It is the climax of a well-oiled plot to forcefully take over Rivers State for which the All Progressives Congress has been bent on stoking crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the state.”
The PDP urged Ibas to adhere to the Constitution and avoid any actions that could disrupt the democratic governance in Rivers State.
It emphasised that Nigeria is not under military rule, where state governance is determined by a junta’s appointments.
The opposition party continued, “Nigerians are invited to note that the situation in Rivers State and the reasons adduced by the President cannot justify the declaration of a state of emergency in the state under the 1999 Constitution, rendering the declaration completely incompetent.
“The PDP alerts that the unwarranted imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State is part of the larger vicious plot to foist a siege mentality across Nigeria, decimate opposition, impose a totalitarian one-party state and turn the country into a fiefdom
“In any case, nothing in section 305 of the 1999 Constitution relied upon by the President in the declaration grants him the exclusive powers to declare or execute the declaration of a state of emergency without recourse to the statutory approval of the National Assembly.
“For the avoidance of doubt, section 305 (2) provides that “The President shall immediately after the publication, transmit copies of the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation containing the proclamation including the details of the emergency to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each of whom shall forthwith convene or arrange for a meeting of the House of which he is President or Speaker, as the case may be, to consider the situation and decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation.
“Mr President should recognize that his order to an unelected individual to forthwith take over government of Rivers State is illegal and a clear recipe for crisis, threat to the peace and stability of not only Rivers State but the entire nation.
