‘Attack on Democracy: PDP Rejects Emergency Rule in Rivers’
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has opposed the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State, claiming that President Bola Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to dismiss the state’s democratically elected governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, PDP spokesman Debo Ologunagba said Tinubu’s pronouncement violated the 1999 Constitution.
The spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Party stated: “The unconstitutional declaration by President Tinubu of the suspension of the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and the appointment of an unelected individual, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd), to govern the State is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, an abrogation of the votes and a violation of the democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.
“Mr. President’s actions consequently clearly border on an 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 a crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the state.”
“The PDP alerts that the unwarranted imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State is part of a 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.
“In any regard, nothing in Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution relied on by the President in the declaration gives him the exclusive authority to proclaim or execute a state of emergency without the statutory assent of the National Assembly.
To clarify, Section 305 (2) states that “The President shall immediately transmit copies of the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation containing the proclamation, including the details of the emergency, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each of whom shall forthwith convene or arrange for a meeting of the House of which he is President or Speaker, as the case may be, to consider the situation and decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation.