He wrote; “Today, I was at Arise Television as a guest to speak on the issues in Rivers State, and specifically on the state of emergency declared by the President.
“I made the case that, in my view, it is unconstitutional, and it falls short of the constitutional threshold. And in any case, the constitution does not support the removal of elected officials, in this case, Governor Fubara, his Deputy, and members of the State House of Assembly. They have a constitutionally guaranteed tenure, which is sacred subject to the conditions laid down by the constitution.
” An emergency rule is not a way of ending their tenure. I also said that emergency rule has never solved any political problem. I repeated my call for all our people not to see it as an ethnic war against the Ikwerre people, our brothers and neighbours with whom we don’t have any problems. It is simply a political crisis within a political family; a dispute between a godfather and his godson.
“I have since maintained that consultations be deepened and both parties be prevailed upon. The President has a role to play; after all, the Minister of FCT is his appointee, and everyone else has to be part of it. All leaders of goodwill have to join hands to create a condition that will bring about a political solution.
“It is my view, with the knowledge of the area, that a state of emergency, as imposed, will heighten insecurity and create more political problems than it will solve, and I hope to vote against it.
Similarly, President Tinubu’s bid to secure legislative approval for the state of emergency in Rivers State hit a setback on Wednesday as the House of Representatives failed to vote on the matter due to low attendance.
The Nigerian Constitution, under Section 305, requires that any presidential declaration of emergency be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate within two days of issuance.
However, the House of Reps plenary saw less than 80 lawmakers in attendance—far below the 120 members needed to form a quorum in the 360-member chamber—making it impossible to make a binding decision on the controversial declaration.
The House convened on Wednesday morning with Tinubu’s emergency proclamation listed under messages from the president. However, due to the low turnout, lawmakers could not proceed with an official vote, as House rules require a one-third quorum for any decision to be legally binding.
The chamber could only discuss motions and receive petitions.
Reports suggest that some lawmakers deliberately avoided the session to distance themselves from what critics call an “unconstitutional overreach” by the president.
Recall that President Tinubu, in a national broadcast on Tuesday evening, suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the State House of Assembly for six months.
As part of the emergency rule, Tinubu appointed retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd.), as sole administrator of the state.
