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A coalition of Civil Society Groups in Rivers State, known as the Concerned Civil Society Organization, has joined the nationwide condemnation of the State of Emergency imposed on Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.
Rising from a meeting on Thursday, the group described the suspension of “the governor and deputy governor of Rivers State and appointment of an administrator,” as “disturbing,” adding that President Tinubu acted “ultra vires his powers” in the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu.
This was contained in a release signed by Amb. Tombani Dumica-Icote: Rivers Indeginous NGOs and Civil Society Network (RINGOCS), Dr Sophia Daniels: Peace Building Manager, Initiative for Sustainable Peace and Entpreneurial Development (ISPED), PILEX Center for Civic Education Initiative, Center for Rural Integration and Development, The Brooks Foundation, Community Initiative For Enhanced Peace and Development (CIEPD), and made available to our correspondent.
The group noted that “the President placed reliance on Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as mended) as the source of his authority to impose the state of emergency on Rivers State.
“To set the records straight, Concerned Civil Society Organization states categorically that from the provisions of Section 305 of the constitution from whence the President derived his powers to impose emergency rule on Rivers State, the removal of the Governor and Deputy Governor, as is in the situation at hand, was not envisaged and no provision whatsoever was made to that effect.”
The coalition of CSOs stressed that, “Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates the methods and procedure for the removal of a Governor and/or Deputy Governor of a state and any action to remove a democratically elected Governor or Deputy Governor outside the way and manner prescribed under Section 188 of the Constitution is unlawful and does not deserve the respect and obedience of the people.
“Aside acting ultra vires his powers in suspending the governor and appointing an Administrator in his stead, President Tinubu went further to arrogate to himself powers as of the time of Adolf Hitler of Germany, by declaring that the Administrator he appointed should make proclamations – laws for Rivers State, whereas, Section 11 of the 1999 Constitution clearly empowers the National Assembly to take over the business of lawmaking for Rivers State in the circumstance.
“May it be on record that President Tinubu acted in bad faith and has in the circumstance, openly declared support and given presidential backing to the FCT Minister’s faction in the political crisis in Rivers State. An honest intervention by the President would have been to rein-in on Nyesom Wike and his cohorts who have frustrated every effort by the governor to implement the decision of the Supreme Court, to comply with the Governor’s resolve to reach a truce.
“The President’s claim of threats on oil installations in the state by faceless individuals whom he claimed are supporters of the governor, and his leaning that the governor failed to deny these alleged threateners, as another cause that necessitated his audacious usurpation of our constitutional democracy lends credence to his warped sense of judgement in the handling a mere political impasse.
“It is on record that referred leaders form the Niger Delta paid a visit to Mr. President at his invitation. The very next day after the meeting, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, escalated tensions through a media chat where he hurled abuses and issued threats against individuals, communities, and ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta.
“At the heart of his insults and tribal denigration were the Ijaw Nation and PANDEF. Beyond that, the minister went on to make several unprintable remarks about prominent individuals, including revered late Chief Senator Edwin Clark and others.
“If anyone has inflamed the political atmosphere and pushed it to this level, it is Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the FCT. Let it be clear to all Nigerians that this crisis involves three key parties: Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the Rivers State House of Assembly members, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
“Widely circulated reports on electronic and social media have linked the explosions in Gokana and Onelga to Chief Barrister Wike’s own statements during his media chat. He was quoted as saying: “What nonsense is that? Who told you Ogoni people cannot break pipelines? Who told you Ikwerre people cannot blow up pipelines? Who told you Ekpeye people cannot blow up pipelines?”
“Such statements were clearly intended to stoke fear, create division, and foster an atmosphere of anarchy—potentially laying the groundwork for the President to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
“It is on record that Governor Siminalayi Fubara made every effort to present the budget as directed within the stipulated timeframe. He wrote to the House through his Secretary to the State Government (SSG), but his request was rejected. He then personally went to the House of Assembly, only to be locked out by the lawmakers.
“Following these developments, the governor formally notified the Assembly of his intention to present the budget on March 19, 2025, or any other date convenient for the House within that month. Despite these efforts, the lawmakers refused to respond. Instead, they adjourned plenary sine die on the instructions of the Nyesom Wike, only to reconvene later and serve an impeachment notice on the governor and his deputy. These actions were clearly orchestrated by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to obstruct the Governor from fulfilling his constitutional duty of presenting the budget, as directed by the Supreme Court, and to create a pretext for the President to justify the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
“For the President to single out Governor Sim Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly members for suspension (albeit illegally) while failing to take any disciplinary action against Minister Nyesom Wike (who is within his powers to discipline) for his gross public misconduct, is a clear miscarriage of justice that has attracted public indignation.
“We condemn in very strong terms the Presidents biased leaning and his dishonest inclination to allegedly restore order through emergency rule when in fact, the peace we enjoy in Rivers State under Gov. Fubara can be likened to that of a people in a state of tranquil. Rivers State has never been this peaceful over a decade now.
“Currently, there are certain parts of Nigeria that require military rule; particularly those sections largely under the control of terrorists, armed bandits and other non-state actors.
“One would have loved to see the President channel his despotic inclination to those areas to recapture and restore those territories under state control.
“We are baffled to learn that despite the catalogue of constitutional blunder that dots the President’s action in usurping democracy in Rivers State, the two Chambers of the National Assembly looked away from the grave illegality and gave their approval, thus stamping the suspension of Gov. Fubara from carrying on the constitutionally mandate freely donated to him by Rivers people through the instrumentality of the ballot.
“We are constrained in the circumstance to take every legal measures available to us within the Nigerian jurisprudence to restore constitutional democracy in our dear Rivers State.
“We thank the Governor and the good people of Rivers State for their peaceful disposition at this troubling moment and urge everyone to continue to go about their lawful business and we hope for a restoration at the shortest possible time.”
