President Bola Tinubu has this evening in a nationwide TV broadcast declared a state of emergency in Rivers state effective immediately, and suspended Governor Simi Fubara, his deputy governor Ngozi Odu, and house of assembly members for six months. He also nominated an administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state.
This is with the backdrop of the governor’s running battle with his political “godfather” and former governor of the state Nyesom Wike, the current minister for the Federal Capital Territory. While Wike and Fubara belong to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Wike when he was in power as governor is widely-believed to have “delivered” the votes in River State for Tinubu during the presidential (s)election, even though the latter belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Erstwhile allies Fubara and Wike
Part of this evening’s drastic move by the president is within his constitutional powers. Part 2, Section 305 of the constitution states:
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the President may by instrument published in the Official -Gazette} of the Government of the Federation issue a Proclamation of a state of emergency in the Federation or any part thereof.
(2) 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.
(3) The President shall have power to issue a Proclamation of a state of emergency only when –
(a) the Federation is at war;
(b) the Federation is in imminent danger of invasion or involvement in a state of war;
(c) there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security;
(d) there is a clear and present danger of an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof requiring extraordinary measures to avert such danger;
(e) there is an occurrence or imminent danger, or the occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity, affecting the community or a section of the community in the Federation;
(f) there is any other public danger which clearly constitutes a threat to the existence of the Federation; or
(g) the President receives a request to do so in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) of this section.
(4) The Governor of a State may, with the sanction of a resolution supported by two-thirds majority of the House of Assembly, request the President to issue a Proclamation of a state of emergency in the State when there is in existence within the State any of the situations specified in subsection (3) (c), (d) and (e) of this section and such situation does not extend beyond the boundaries of the State.
Tinubu and his legal advisers would argue that subsections (c) and (d) apply to Rivers State. There have been some violence between supporters of the governor and legislators loyal to Wike. There have also been reports of pipelines being blown up – with some claims that those acts of vandalism were carried out to justify the declaration of a state of emergency.
None of these incidents appear to reach the high bar required to suggest a “breakdown of public order” beyond what the security agencies can contain. In fact, political violence has been normalised in Nigeria. So Tinubu’s action appears to be politically motivated in favour of Wike, a member of his cabinet.
His opponent in the last (s)election and former vice president Atiku Abubakar thinks so and tweeted:
The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.
Anyone paying attention to the unfolding crisis knows that Bola Tinubu has been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers. His blatant refusal or calculated negligence in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful.
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 new sole administrator and Wike
When then President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the northeast due to the Boko Haram insurgency in 2013, Tinubu called it out as a “dangerous trend”.
While Tinubu may well be within his rights to go down this “dangerous trend” of a state of emergency, the above section of the constitution does not give him the powers to suspend the governor and members of the State House of Assembly.
