Senate, Reps okay President Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers State

The Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday separately approved President Bola Tinubu’s proclamation of the state of emergency in Rivers State.

They however mandated a review of the situation at any time, but not later than six months.

The National Assembly also imposed a joint committee of both chambers to oversee the administration of affairs in Rivers State during the emergency period.

The Senate resolved to establish a mediation committee consisting of eminent Nigerians to help resolve the state’s political crisis.

The House of Representatives was the first to approve the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.

In a voice vote, the lawmakers backed Tinubu’s decision, two days after the President made the move.

A total of 240 House of Representative members attended the preliminary which was presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

While deliberating on the decision, the House made some amendments including that a committee of eminent Nigerians would be set up to mediate on the matter.

They also noted that the National Assembly is empowered to make law for a state where its house of assembly is unable to perform its functions.

This contradicts the Federal Government’s plan for the Federal Executive Council to take up that duty.

On Tuesday, President Tinubu wielded the big stick in Rivers, declaring a state of emergency in the state.

He also suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months and appointed a sole administrator to take charge of the state.

Legal experts, governors, and prominent Nigerians including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi to have condemned the proclamation, demanding a reversal.

However, the Federal Government has doubled down on Tinubu’s decision and argued that it was needed to bring peace to the oil-rich state.

Emergency rule cannot stand in Rivers, says Amaechi, mobilises against Tinubu

Ex-Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi has begun a mobilisation of leaders including lawmakers against the imposition of the state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu.

Amaechi who contested the presidential primary and lost to Tinubu in the last election said the suspension of Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office was an illegal power grab by the President mm.

He gave this reaction in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Amaechi strongly condemned the President’s action as a truncation of democracy in Rivers State, describing it as “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and a brazen violation of Nigeria’s Constitution.”

He went on to call on the National Assembly, state governors, and stakeholders to reject the “illegal power grab,” under the guise of the state of emergency.

The former Minister of Transportation argued that President Tinubu had overstepped his constitutional authority by suspending elected state officials. Citing Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, he emphasized that a governor can only be removed through a clearly defined impeachment process, not by presidential decree.

“With this singular move, Mr. President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in Rivers State. This clearly violates our Constitution, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Mr. President swore to uphold,” Amaechi stated.

Amaechi further questioned Tinubu’s use of Section 305, which allows the President to declare a state of emergency, arguing that it does not grant him the power to “dissolve elected arms of government.”

He accused certain forces of orchestrating a political takeover in the state.

He urged governors, lawmakers, and Nigerians across political divides to resist the “audacious violation of democracy.”

“At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our Constitution and rape of our democracy.

“Mr. President must be made to know and understand in unmistakable terms that this illegality cannot stand,” he stated.

Jandor is a congenital liar, he taught us big lesson in PDP – Bode George

Bode George, a prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has launched a scathing attack on Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), the party’s 2023 Lagos governorship candidate, labeling him a “congenital liar”.

George made the remark during a conversation with Jimi Disu on Nigeria Info FM on Tuesday.

Jandor, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP before the 2023 elections, secured the party’s governorship ticket amid internal party disputes. However, his relationship with key PDP figures, including George, has been tense, with accusations of betrayal and dishonesty surfacing over time.

On Monday, he announced his return to the APC four days after meeting President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

Speaking about the former PDP governorship candidate, George said Jandor taught PDP “a lesson,” noting that he had agreed to pick Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour as his running mate but reneged.

“He is a congenital liar. We stumbled into him through an older, respectable leader who brought him. It was something unusual because Gbadebo (Rhodes-Vivour) was at the forefront (of the PDP governorship ticket), the party chieftain said.

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“But when the respectable man brought Jandor, we had to make a decision because, in our culture, we respect the elderly.

“Gbadebo was on hand, but I asked him his age, and he said he was 39, and Jandor said he was 45. And I said, ‘We can work something out’.

“I concluded that Jandor had been vetted by the old man. Until we had agreed that he would choose Gbadebo as his running mate. Then Gbadebo stepped down after paying 21 million for the party’s governorship ticket.

“Then, one day, Fashola said on TV that Jandor was his former cameraman. That was when we started digging into him.

“All of the party’s elders have concluded that we will not listen to any input from anybody from now on. Let whoever wants to contest go to the field.

“It is a lesson that he (Jandor) taught us. When he got the ticket, he did not want to take Gbadebo as his running mate. He lives in a conundrum of lies.

“Our party doesn’t do that, and we, the elders, apologised profusely, vowing that what happened with Jandor would never repeat itself.”

Jandor is a congenital liar, he taught us big lesson in PDP – Bode George