Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has urged Nigerians to oppose “the violation of the country’s constitution” by President Bola Tinubu, following his recent suspension of the democratic structures in Rivers state with the imposition of a state of emergency earlier this month.
Citing an escalating political crisis in the oil-rich state, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, March 18 and suspended the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and all lawmakers in the state parliament for six months. He also appointed former Naval Chief Ibok-Ette Ibas as Administrator of the state.
In a nationwide broadcast Tinubu said he had received “disturbing security reports detailing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them”, adding that he could not allow the “grave situation” to continue.
However, Falana in a virtual interaction with Nigerians in the Diaspora on Saturday night said that while a state of emergency may be necessary to restore law and order in any part of the federation threatened by a breach of peace, President Tinubu has no right under the 1999 Constitution as amended, to suspend or remove the governor, his deputy and the house of assembly.
According to Falana, Section 305 of the Constitution provides: that “ (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.”
In the virtual conference, co-hosted by foremost columnist, Farooq Kperogi, Moses Ochonu and Osmond Agba, Falana argued that even if the Constitution allows the president to employ “extraordinary measures” in sub section 3, to address threat to the country, that “does not require him to suspend or remove elected officials in the state. “
He added that “there is no such provision in the constitution and the president and his backers can not import what is not in the constitution.”
The Lagos-based human rights lawyer also scolded the National Assembly for approving the suspension of democratic structures in the beleaguered state with a voice vote, suggesting that the haste, with which the legislators endorsed the proclamation without thorough scrutiny, was replete with partisan politics.
Contributing, Farooq Kperogi advocated the need to strengthen the judiciary and make it less dependent on the executive arm to douse the palpable fears expressed by the participants that the Supreme Court in recent times has lost its public trust and could be manipulated by the President to endorse the unconstitutional suspension of democratic of institutions, once the matter comes to it as shown in recent cases where the apex court gave judgments that appeared to be at odd with basic provisions of the law and logic.
In the same vein, Moses Ochonu agreed that it has become incument on the judiciary especially the Supreme Court to make definitive statements on the issue of the state of emergency to avoid confusion on the matter judging by previous experiences in Plateau in 2004 and in Ekiti state in 2006 even as he expressed worries that the State of Emergency in Rivers may have undercut legal proceedings concerning the crisis in Rivers.
Osmond Agba, one of the co-hosts, called for immediate solutions to the crisis in Rivers by all stakeholders, adding that the nation must be cautious in dealing with such dicey issues to protect Nigerian democracy.
Overall, Nigerians were urged not to lose hope but to intensify their advocacy for the rule of law despite the intimidation by those in power.
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