STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE
The authorities should ensure that emergency rule does not bring with it bigger problems
In a national broadcast last Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu suspended the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state House of Assembly for a period of six months in the first instance. In place of the elected officials, he appointed a retired naval officer, Ibok-Ette Ibas as the sole administrator in a replay of similar actions by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo in Plateau and Ekiti States, and to some extent President Goodluck Jonathan on Yobe, Adamawa and Borno State. Remarkably in the latter case, which was a response to the activities of insurgents in the Northeast of the country, all the democratic institutions were left intact.
President Tinubu predicated his action partly on “disturbing” security reports detailing incidents of vandalism of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them. Even though the accusation has been rejected by Fubara, the crisis in the state has been simmering. Since the February 28 judgment of the Supreme Court which affirmed the legitimacy of the Martins Amaewhule-led faction of 27 members in the State House of Assembly and nullified the local government election held on 5th October 2024, both camps have heightened tension in the state. A recent viral video on social media showed some militants armed with AK-47s and other assorted rifles in a forested area, chanting war songs and vowing to attack oil installations and disrupt production.
Meanwhile, in a matter requiring a two-thirds majority, the National Assembly adopted a voice vote to give a sweeping approval to the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State by the president. That has drawn the ire of many stakeholders, including the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the South-South Governors’ Forum. While we understand that precedent favours the president even when there may be contention about the position of the law on the issue, there is also the matter of leadership discretion regarding how best to proceed in the current context.
The president can simultaneously be on the right side of the law and on the wrong side of good judgment, especially considering his own position on this same issue in the past as an opposition politician. Besides, the impression that he has taken sides with one actor in the crisis rather than with the people of Rivers State is one that he will struggle to extricate himself from. His poorly articulated statement while declaring the state of emergency and the subsequent allegation against the suspended governor by his Attorney General and Justice Minister, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, do not help matters.
However, we acknowledge the strategic necessity of the emergency declaration. The critical minefield and challenge is how to navigate the treacherous borderline between impunity and political expediency. That is why we need to caution on a number of things that this emergency rule must not mean in Rivers State. One, the influx of soldiers and personnel must not lead to human rights violations in the state. Two, emergency rule must not bring with it a curtailment of media freedom to report on whatever the sole administrator does in the state. Three, deploying the military to instill law and order must not lead to a takeover by the federal government of the political space in the state by subterfuge.
The foregoing points are important not only as critical success-factors in restoring peace to Rivers State but also to ensure that the declaration of emergency does not bring with it bigger problems. It must also be clearly stated that there should be accountability on the part of the administrator in the management of resources now that the federal government is releasing the earlier withheld allocations due to the state from the federation account. Finally, and most importantly, the state of emergency in Rivers State should not dovetail to the campaigns for the 2027 general election. As a military/security operation, whatever the president needs to do in the state must end quickly so that the political structure is restored and the people can return to normal social, political and economic life.
