The controversy trailing the political crisis in Rivers State took a worrisome dimension recently with reports of pipeline explosions. The state witnessed two explosions in less than 48 hours, signalling a potential descent into anarchy before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency.
The impasse followed months of intense political and legal battles between the state’s 27 lawmakers sympathetic to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Nyesom Wike, on the one hand, and Governor Siminalayi Fubara, on the other.
After the Supreme Court’s judgement, which invalidated the local government elections in the state and ruled the state’s appropriation bill illegal, the governor was on the verge of being impeached by the majority of 27 lawmakers.
President Tinubu cited the intractable political situation in the state and the danger of a complete breakdown of law and order as the reason for the state of emergency.
The move has, understandably, generated different reactions, with opinions deeply divided about the constitutionality of the action, especially with specific regard to Sections 188 and 305 of the 1999 Constitution.
While we hold the view that the removal of elected officials, especially in a democracy, is a matter that requires utmost care and regard to due process and constitutionality, we regret that the president was constrained to proclaim emergency rule as a matter of necessity. It’s the fourth time a president would have recourse to proclaim emergency rule since 1999, raising afresh the tensions inherent in Nigeria’s federal system.
While we await the outcome of the decision of some governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to challenge the president’s action in court, we believe that the current pause gives room for reflection to the principal parties in this ugly dispute.
It’s in their interest and the greater interest of the Rivers people for the parties to sheathe their swords and let healing and reconciliation start. It can be argued that justice is a precondition for peace and reconciliation. Yet, if what we have seen in Rivers State in the last 16 months is anything to go by, justice – not only for the parties to the dispute – but also for lasting peace in the state, may well be a negotiated settlement, hopefully not one that would be discarded or repudiated as the governor reportedly did after the last peace talks.
A good place to start is for the parties to rein in their supporters and show good faith in cooperating with the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas. Also, we urge traditional rulers, opinion leaders, elders, politicians, pressure, professional groups, and members of the various socio-cultural associations to remember that their communities would be the biggest losers in any prolonged conflict. They cannot afford to inflame the situation and endanger their people’s lives.
It is gratifying that the state’s trapped funds have been released. While we call on the National Assembly, especially the representatives of the state in both chambers and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to ensure appropriate oversight of resources that have been released, we remind the Sole Administrator that he will account for every kobo spent in his tenure, which we hope will not extend beyond six months.
However, the federal government cannot wait for the time to elapse before laying the foundation for lasting peace in the state. We urge the president to appoint a committee of eminent persons, who do not all necessarily have to be from Rivers State, to begin the spade work immediately. The people of Rivers State have endured enough.
It’s a crisis that Nigeria cannot afford to waste.
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