Rivers emergency rules: Atiku, El-Rufai, others tackle Tinubu, details emerge

Legit.ng writer Adekunle Dada has implicit 7 years of acquisition covering metro, authorities policy, and planetary events

FCT, Abuja - Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, erstwhile Kaduna authorities governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and different governmental stakeholders person accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of imposing autocratic national power successful Rivers state.

Atiku and El-Rufai said Tinubu’s exigency declaration and suspension of Governor Fubara, his deputy, and the authorities House of Assembly is unsafe and unconstitutional.

Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, and others marque 4 demands implicit Rivers exigency rule. Photo credit: Concerned Leaders and Political Stakeholders
Source: UGC

The conjugation of governmental stakeholders crossed the state made 4 important demands during a associated league successful Abuja connected Thursday, March 20, 2025.

Below is the afloat substance of the connection arsenic made disposable to Legit.ng.

Fellow Nigerians,We are a cross-section of leaders and governmental stakeholders from crossed the country. We person travel unneurotic to code the unsafe and unconstitutional actions taken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, connected March 18, 2025-to wit, the declaration of a State of Emergency successful Rivers State and the amerciable suspension of the democratically elected Governor, Deputy Governor, and the State House of Assembly.This enactment is not lone unlawful but besides a wide subversion of ideology and imposition of autocratic national power implicit a duly elected authorities government. We powerfully condemn this improvement and telephone connected each Nigerians of bully conscience to defy this brazen battle connected the constitution of our state and the institutions of our democracy.Mr President's amerciable and unconstitutional proclamation was presumably driven by the protracted insidious governmental situation successful Rivers State, which culminated successful the caller ruling of the Supreme Court. Naturally, we expected each parties to the quality to travel laid-down procedures, and successful bully faith, to promptly instrumentality the judgement of the highest tribunal of the land. We enactment that contempt provocative statements athe nd belligerent cognition of his opponents, Governor Fubara had demonstrated goodwill and appeared disposed to the implementation of the ruling of the Supreme Court.However, alternatively than emergence supra the fray, the president yielded to petty favouritism and betrayed the oath that helium solemnly swore to earlier God and man, which was to "do close to each mode of people, according to law, without fearfulness oregon favour, affection oregon ill-will." If President Tinubu had conveniently disguised his existent intentions successful the past, his broadcast to the federation connected 18th March 2025 betrayed his bias and fell acold beneath the modular of comportment expected from his exalted office.The Constitutional Violations1. Illegal Removal of a Governor and State AssemblyWithout immoderate doubt, the Nigerian Constitution does not empower the President to region an elected Governor, Deputy Governor, oregon State Assembly nether immoderate circumstances. The process for removing a Governor is intelligibly outlined successful Section 188 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) done an impeachment process initiated by the State House of Assembly-not by statesmanlike proclamation oregon arbitrary pronouncement.2. Misuse of Section 305 connected the State of EmergencySection 305 of the Constitution allows the President to state a State of Emergency lone successful utmost cases wherever nationalist safety, nationalist security, oregon Nigeria's sovereignty is astatine superior risk. However, it does not assistance him the powerfulness to suspend elected officials oregon to demolish antiauthoritarian structures arsenic helium has brazenly done.Furthermore, Section 305(1) states that immoderate proclamation of exigency is taxable to the provisions of the Constitution-meaning it cannot override the tenure and removal procedures of a Governor.3. Failure to Meet Constitutional Requirements for Emergency RuleThe conditions nether Section 305(3) for declaring a authorities of exigency include:■ War oregon outer aggressionBreakdown of nationalist bid and safetyNatural disasters oregon immoderate different sedate exigency threatening Nigeria's firm existenceNone of these conditions beryllium successful existent circumstances successful Rivers State. There is nary war, nary wide violence, and nary breakdown of instrumentality and bid warranting an exigency declaration.4. Failure to Follow Due ProcessEven if an exigency declaration were valid (which it is not), it would inactive necessitate a two-thirds bulk support of ALL members of the National Assembly-that is, astatine least, 72 Senators and 240 members of the House of Representatives. If this support is not secured, the proclamation indispensable automatically cease to person effect.5. Alternative Legal Avenues Were IgnoredIf the contented was the dysfunction of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the President could person encouraged the National Assembly to intervene nether Section 11 of the Constitution. However, adjacent nether specified an intervention, the Governor and Deputy Governor cannot beryllium removed by immoderate limb of authorities but done law means, arsenic the proviso to S. 11(4) intelligibly provides.A Manufactured Crisis for Political ControlThis State of Emergency declaration is not astir security-it is astir powerfulness grabbing and control. The disagreements wrong Rivers State stem from the defection of 27 Assembly members from the PDP to the APC, their nonaccomplishment of seats nether law provisions, and the consequent governmental manoeuvring to undermine the Governor's mandate.Rather than allowing the instrumentality to instrumentality its course, the national authorities has engineered a situation to warrant this evidently premeditated and brazenly cynical unconstitutional action. We find the national government's excuse for pipeline vandalism rather untenable and adjacent laughable. The information of nationalist infrastructure falls squarely nether the responsibilities of national information agencies and privately contracted information firms. If this contented has to bash with breach of information successful immoderate form, the question that should people beryllium asked is: Who controls the police, the military, and the DSS? The Governor oregon the President?Our Demand and Call to Action1. Immediate Reversal: We telephone connected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to instantly revoke this unconstitutional proclamation and reinstate the elected Governor, Deputy Governor, and State Assembly of Rivers State.2. National Assembly's Rejection: We telephone connected patriotic Senators and Representatives to ballot against this amerciable enactment erstwhile it comes earlier them for approval. The National Assembly indispensable basal connected the close broadside of past and not let itself to beryllium utilized to legitimise an unconstitutional powerfulness grab.

Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, says Tinubu's enactment is simply a wide subversion of democracy. Photo credit: Concerned Leaders and Political Stakeholders
Source: UGC

3. Judicial Intervention: We impulse the judiciary to enactment swiftly successful striking down this proclamation, arsenic it sets a unsafe precedent that could beryllium utilized to arbitrarily region immoderate Governor successful the future.4. Nigerians Must Defend Democracy: We telephone connected each civilian nine organisations, governmental groups, and Nigerians of bully conscience to basal steadfast successful the defence of this ideology that we person each toiled to build. Rivers State is not a conquered territory, and Nigeria is not a dictatorship requiring the replacement of an ELECTED GOVERNOR with a MILITARY ADMINISTRATOR. We callback that adjacent erstwhile a erstwhile medication had declared a authorities of exigency successful parts of the state bedevilled by insurgency and acts of terrorism, the governors of the acrophobic states were not removed from bureau arsenic this medication has done. This action, by President Tinubu, truthful represents a caller debased for our country.ConclusionThe humanities unrest successful the Niger Delta should not beryllium forgotten truthful soon. Past administrations had made large efforts and sacrifices to reconstruct bid and stableness to the Niger Delta, which is captious to the economical wellness and stableness of Nigeria itself. This national authorities should not manufacture governmental crises that could disrupt the fragile stableness and instrumentality the state to the past that we person each prayed to permission down for good."We indispensable ne'er let idiosyncratic governmental interests and the tendency to clasp connected to powerfulness astatine each costs to propulsion the state into unavoidable chaos done brazen subversion of the principles of federalism, democracy, and law governance. This is not conscionable astir Rivers State it is astir the aboriginal of Nigeria's democracy."

Rivers Assembly reacts to Tinubu's exigency declaration

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the suspended Rivers State House of Assembly said it did not commune for a declaration of state of emergency successful the state.

The lawmaker, however, declared their for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, promising to abide by the declaration.

The Speaker Martin Amaewhule, made this known successful a connection pursuing their suspension and that of Governor Sim Fubara and his deputy.

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Source: Legit.ng