The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)has rejected the declaration of a state of emergency in the state, declaring that President Bola Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to suspend Siminalayi Fubara, the democratically elected governor of Rivers State.
According to the opposition party, President Bola Tinubu’s actions are an assault on democracy and an attempt at state capture.
PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba claimed in a statement on Tuesday that Tinubu’s declaration violated the 1999 Constitution.
The PDP spokesman said, “The unconstitutional declaration by President Tinubu of the suspension of the
democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and the appointment of an unelected
individual, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd), to govern the State is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, an
abrogation of the votes and the democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.
“The action of Mr President therefore clearly borders on an 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 (APC)
has been bent on stoking a crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the State.”
“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.
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“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,” he added.
In his own part, the 2023 Labour Party (LP) Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has condemned President Bola
Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it an unconstitutional and reckless move.
Obi urged the National Assembly to intervene by withholding legislative support for what he described as an abuse of executive power.
Similarly, former vice president Atiku Abubakar has faulted the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state,
describing it as an assault on democracy that must be condemned in the strongest terms.
The former vice president, who reacted on his verified Facebook page, noted that the declaration is a political manipulation, carried out in bad faith.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either
enabled or failed to prevent in Rivers State.
He further noted that if federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President should bear full
responsibility, and rather than punish the people of Rivers State with a state of emergency.
Others, like the apex socio-political body for the South-South geopolitical zone, the Pan Niger Delta Forum, (PANDEF), said that it was studying the situation and would soon come up with its position.
A statement yesterday by PANDEF’s National Spokesman, Chief Obiuwevbi Ominimini, read:’PANDEF is seriously
alarmed by the state of emergency declared in Rivers State due to a crisis that is ordinarily avoidable. We are, therefore, studying the situation, and we shall soon come up with Pandef’s position.”
