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

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.