The sacking of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly by President Bola Tinubu has generated unprecedented heat from different quarters.
On Tuesday, March 18, Tinubu who declared State of Emergency in Rivers and suspended the political leaders for six months amid protracted political crisis that culminated in pipeline vandalism in the state.
In the nationwide broadcast in which he made the declaration, Tinubu said, “No good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state”.
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He said all the measures previously taken to restore peace were frustrated by the parties involved in the crisis, adding that extraordinary measures needed to be taken to restore good governance, peace, order and security.
Since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, Tinubu is the third president to invoke Section 305 of the Constitution. Ex-President Olusegun did twice – in Plateau (2004) and Ekiti (2006) – during his eight year-rule.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan toed this path in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno States during the peak of insurgency in 2013.
But, Nigerians have thrown back at the incumbent president who was then National Leader of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) how he blatantly rejected the action which he had described as “a dangerous trend in the art of governance.”
Hitting Jonathan, Tinubu had said the move had political undertone.
“The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events with unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015.
Borno and Yobe states have been literally under armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.
Tinubu had warned that the administration will be setting in motion a chain of events, the end of which, nobody can predict, as experience has shown that actions, such as this one under consideration, often give root to radical ideologies and extremist tendencies, a direct opposite of the intended outcome of unwarranted and unintelligent meddlesomeness.
“The present scenario playing out in the country reminds one of the classical cases of a mediocre craftsman who continually blames the tools of his trade for his serial failure but refuses to look at his pitiable state with a view to adjusting,” he said.
“It has become crystal clear, even to the most incurable optimist, that the country is adrift. That the ship of the Nigerian state is rudderless is clearly evident in the consistent and continual attacks ferociously executed by elements often referred to as the insurgents in some northern states of the federation, particularly Borno and Yobe states respectively.
Indeed, no part of the country is immune from the virulent but easy attacks, veritable indices of a failing state. No Governor of a state in Nigeria is indeed the Chief Security Officer. Putting the blame on the Governors, who have been effectively emasculated, for the abysmal performance of the government at the centre which controls all these security agencies, smacks of ignorance and mischief.”
“This Government, through acts of omission and commission, has fallen far short of expectation. It actively encourages schisms and all manner of divisive tendencies for parochial expediency. Ethnicity and religion become handy weapons of domination. Things have never been this bad.”
He had said it was evident from the grim experiences in recent times that the Jonathan government had failed, or did not know that it is necessary for it to avail itself of the benefits accruable from exchange of ideas and notes on the latest in terms of technology and human resources among nations of the modern world.
Tinubu opined that the massacres of local communities by unknown elements will further alienate the people who should, ordinarily, partner with the government in securing their immediate environments.
“The President’s pronouncement, which seeks to abridge or has the potential of totally scuttling the constitutional functions of Governors and other elected representatives of the people, will be counterproductive in the long run. A State of Emergency already exists in the states where JTF operates. Residents of these communities live in constant fear. Their rights are violated with impunity under the guise of searching for terrorists in their respective domains.”
“It is a potentially a destructive path to take. If security of a society is about the protection of lives and property of the citizenry, the involvement of the people is a sine qua non to effective intelligence gathering. Any measures put in place which alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives, should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right thinking person in the country,” the statement added.
NBA roars against the Emergency Rule
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has strongly opposed President Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and his suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The NBA, in a statement released on March 18, 2025, by its president, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, emphasized that the President lacks constitutional power to unilaterally remove elected officials under the guise of emergency rule.
The NBA argues that such actions, while concerning, do not meet the constitutional threshold for suspending an elected government.
The NBA pointed to Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which governs the procedure for declaring a state of emergency. While this section grants the President emergency powers, it does not allow for the removal or suspension of elected officials. The NBA stressed that the only constitutional method for removing a governor or deputy governor is through impeachment as outlined in Section 188.
Furthermore, the removal of lawmakers must adhere to electoral laws and constitutional provisions. The NBA insisted that a state of emergency does not equate to an automatic dissolution of an elected government, and any attempt to do so is an overreach of executive power.
The NBA also highlighted that Tinubu’s emergency declaration requires approval from the National Assembly within two days if in session, or ten days if not. Until such approval is granted, the declaration remains legally ineffective.
Condemning the move as a “dangerous affront” to democracy, the NBA warned that allowing the suspension of elected officials under emergency rule could set a precedent for removing state governments based on political considerations. It urged the National Assembly to reject any attempt to ratify the unconstitutional suspension of Rivers State officials.
The NBA called on all stakeholders, including the judiciary, civil society, and international observers, to monitor the situation closely. It reaffirmed its commitment to upholding Nigeria’s democracy and urged the federal government to resolve political conflicts through constitutional and legal mechanisms, not executive orders.
The association concluded by insisting that Nigeria’s democracy must be protected at all costs, warning that any unconstitutional interference in state governance threatens the nation’s democratic stability.
PDP Rejects the Emergency Rule
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the State of Emergency imposed on Rivers State by Tinubu.
In a statement released by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, the party argued that the President exercised powers he didn’t possess by removing an elected governor and imposing a state of emergency on the PDP-controlled state.
The statement reads; “PDP 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 out rightly 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 (rtd) 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 (APC) has been bent on stoking crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the State.
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 statement further reads “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.
For emphasis, Governor Fubara was democratically elected for a tenure of four years which tenure cannot be unconstitutionally abridged.
The PDP therefore cautions Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) to respect the Constitution and ensure that he does not take any action or step which is capable of derailing smooth democratic Governance in Rivers State.
Nigeria is not under a military rule where the Governance of a State is by appointment by a junta.”
