PDP rejects state of emergency in Rivers, suspension of Fubara
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has outrightly rejected the attempt by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 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 PDP cautioned Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (retd), the beneficiary of the act to respect the Constitution and ensure that he did not take any action or step that is capable of derailing smooth democratic governance in Rivers State, stressing that Nigeria was not under a military rule where governance of a state was by appointment by a junta.
The party specifically said that nothing in Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution relied upon by President Tinubu in the declaration, granted 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.
The opposition party said that it listened with dismay to the national broadcast by President Tinubu in which, in utter violation of the 1999 Constitution, he imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State.
PDP said that 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 was a clear attack on the nation’s democracy, an abrogation of the votes and democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.
A statement by Honourable Debo Ologunagba, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, said that the action of President Tinubu clearly bordered on an attempt at state capture.
According to the PDP, “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.”
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The PDP insisted that the unwarranted imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State was 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.
It further said; “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 recognise 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.”
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