PDP REJECTS EMERGENCY RULE IN RIVERS STATE

March 19, 2025, 7:10 a.m.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not have the powers to suspend the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, the PDP said President Tinubu acted in violation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in his proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers State. Hon. Ologunagba 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 is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, and 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”, he added. Hon. Debo Ologunagba said the PDP wants Nigerians 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 party warned 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 The party asked Mr. President to recognize that his order to an unelected individual to take over the government of Rivers State was illegal and a clear recipe for crisis, threat to the peace and stability of not only Rivers State but the entire nation. It also cautioned Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) to respect the Constitution and ensure that he does not take any action or step that is capable of derailing smooth democratic governance in Rivers State, as Nigeria was not under a military rule where the governance of a state is by appointment by a junta.

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