Ime Akpan
The declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu has continued to reverberate with many schools of thought believing that the president used the alleged pipeline attacks as a ploy to buy time in order to consolidate his plan.
Chief among those who subscribe to this thinking is the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
Recall that the president had in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday narrated some perceived shortcomings of the suspended governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, blaming him for the unhealthy political situation in the state.
“It is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis.
“A government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State… Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them…. The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them,” Tinubu stated.
Responding, PANDEF strongly lambasted the president for his action, saying matter-of-factly that the president used the recent pipeline attacks to unjustifiably remove Fubara, dismantle all the democratic structures and impose federal control over the oil-rich state.
In a communiqué signed by prominent Niger Delta leaders, including Mr Alfred Diete-Spiff and the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Victor Attah, Godknows Igali, and Obiuwevbi Ominimini, the forum questioned the timing of the state of emergency, pointing out that the Court of Appeal had yet to rule on the status of 27 Rivers State lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
PANDEF also condemned the militarisation of Rivers State over a pipeline explosion, noting that similar incidents occurred elsewhere without prompting such drastic measures.
Besides, it recalled Tinubu’s 2013 opposition to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where governors were not removed despite the Boko Haram insurgency.
At the time, Tinubu had accused Jonathan’s government of using emergency rule to “muzzle elected governments” and push partisan agendas.
The group also raised concerns about the timing of the move, pointing out that Fubara had already taken steps to comply with a Supreme Court ruling regarding the 2025 budget before the emergency was declared.
“This declaration of a state of emergency totally negates the avowed positions of President Tinubu, as was widely publicised during his interventions in May 2013 when former President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa at the height of Boko Haram insurgency—even without removing governors.
“Many Nigerian states, particularly in the northeast, northwest, and north central geopolitical zones, live with daily assaults on their very existence, yet, no state of emergency has been declared,” PANDEF stated.
The forum also said the declaration of emergency rule came just days after Fubara had complied with the Supreme Court’s ruling and the president’s directive to present the 2025 state budget to the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The group said that the Rivers State lawmakers had instead gone on an indefinite adjournment, only to initiate impeachment proceedings against the governor shortly afterwards.
“This sequence of events raises serious doubts about the true intent of the emergency rule,” PANDEF stated.
It reasoned that the move was orchestrated to sideline Fubara and consolidate power in favour of political interests aligned with the federal government.
PANDEF said “as a respectable body of very senior and eminent citizens of this country representing the interest of the people of the south-south will continue to sue for peace and work with all sides and the federal government towards its attainment in Rivers State and the entire south-south zone”
Similarly, Fubara countered Tinubu’s allegations, saying it is untrue that did nothing to dissuade criminal groups and militants from making good their threats to attack oil installations.
In a statement by his media aide, Mr Nelson Chukwudi, the suspended governor also disclaimed the president’s assertion that he abandoned the state house of assembly complex after it was demolished saying the new complex was under 80 per cent completion.
“There was also another claim that after demolishing the Hallowed Chambers of the State House of Assembly on Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, the Governor did nothing to rebuild the facility.
“Ordinarily, we would have ignored the statements as mere results of lack of adequate information to the Presidency by those tasked with the responsibility of providing same to guide decision-making, but it has become imperative to set the records straight and correct the erroneous impression such narratives are creating in the minds of the Nigerian people.
“First, it is important to clarify that Governor Fubara has nothing to do with the threats by militants and also did not in any way “telegraph” the reported attacks on any oil facility in the state,” the statement said,
Fubara blamed some of the happenings in the state to the contentious statements made by the FCT minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, to the effect that the Ijaw are a powerless group in the political affairs of the country and a minority of the minorities and how he refused to apologise when the people asked him to do so.
He also listed other instances when Wike’s supporters allegedly stoke tension while his own loyalists maintained calm.
“It is on record that the reaction of stakeholders in the Niger Delta, especially elders, chiefs, women, Ijaw National Congress, its youth wing, IYC, as well as militants, among others, was triggered by remarks by the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, in a live media chat, during which he dismissed Ijaws as a minority of the minorities and powerless in the Nigerian polity, saying that Ijaws are not the only ones that are militants and can blow up pipelines; that Ogonis, Ikwerres and others are also militants and can as well blow up pipelines.
“Most of the Ijaw groups and leaders even demanded an apology from the FCT Minister, which he rebuffed.
“Available public records show that Governor Fubara, on several occasions and at every forum, including all the project commissioning events as well as the handover of the AW139 Helicopter to the Nigerian Air Force, between March 3 and 13, 2025, made it clear that his administration was committed to the peace, security, and safety of oil facilities in the State.
“He often recalled his pivotal role as a member of the Presidential Committee on the Protection of Oil Installations in the Region, and repeatedly emphasised the need to protect oil pipelines and other facilities in the State, urging his supporters and the people of the State to avoid acts capable of destabilizing the State or sabotaging the nation’s economy.
“Since inception as the chief executive of Rivers State, Governor Fubara has prioritized investment in upscaling the welfare and operational equipment of all personnel and arms of the Armed Forces and security agencies in the State by building livable office and residential accommodation for officers and men and donating vehicles, gunboats, helicopters, and other critical needs of the formations to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the performance of their duties.
“His commitment to total peace and good governance in the state has contributed significantly to increased oil production and revenues for the country since May 29, 2023 as the continuous rise in the accruable revenue from the state into the federation account has shown over the months.
“On the claim that the governor acted with impunity to demolish the hallowed chambers of the state house of assembly and did nothing to rebuild the chambers 14 months after, it is on record that Governor Fubara acted based on professional advice and guidance.
“Let it be clarified that the former governor and now FCT minister repeatedly criticized the dilapidated and leaking assembly complex, and during the commissioning of the assembly quarters in August 2022, challenged the lawmakers to take responsibility for the poor state of the edifice, rejecting requests to rebuild it to ensure a conducive legislative environment for the lawmakers.
“It must be noted that immediately after the incident of October 29, 2023, and experts’ reports, the government decided to heed the age-old demands of the lawmakers to rebuild the facility and promptly demolished the dilapidated structure to give way to a state-of-the-art assembly complex, which is now nearly 80 per cent completed.
“It would be recalled that in the wake of the most peaceful and violence-free local government election in the state on the 5th October, 2024, the supporters of the FCT minister violently attacked and razed facilities in some local government council secretariats without any reprisals from Governor Fubara’s supporters.
“It is also pertinent to draw the attention of security agencies to the fact that LGAs where those attacks were unleashed are the same places that have repeatedly witnessed violence perpetrated by detractors of the Governor Fubara-led administration.
“This is why it is important for the security agencies to focus on the real purveyors of violence, critically evaluate these incidents, and diligently undertake investigations to unravel the elements behind the crimes and bring them to justice without let or hindrance.
“It is clearly untrue that somebody who has all the while preached peace and non-violence, even in the face of extreme provocations, would be “telegraphing attacks on oil pipelines” and breaching the peace he has worked so hard to promote and sustain for the good of the people of the state,” the statement added.
In the same vein, the governor of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, condemned the dismantling of democratic structures in Rivers.
In his biweekly newsletter, ‘The Business of Governance Issue 110,’ published yesterday, Makinde noted that the suspension of democracy in the state through the declaration of a state of emergency is an illegal act which all well-meaning Nigerians must condemn.
“I stand today to say that the declaration of the state of emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of the executive and legislative arms of government by the presidency is an illegality that right-thinking members of society must oppose.
“Our democratic tenets must never be trifled with, no matter our personal feelings and loyalties. This is the time to take a stand for fairness, equity and justice.
“As our democracy grows and unfolds, we must also be willing to speak up when we see anything that threatens our development as a nation. We must choose to stand up for what is right, even if it means standing alone.
“I am glad that our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, is demonstrating the needed strength and leadership.
“The PDP Governors’ Forum rose from an emergency meeting (on Wednesday) where we unanimously decided to challenge the actions of President Tinubu in a court of competent jurisdiction. We cannot fold our hands and watch the democracy we built for almost three decades be trampled upon,” Makinde said.
For his part, the former governor of Kaduna State governor and chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Nasir El-Rufai in a post on his X handle condemned the president for his “wanton aggression against democratic tenets and the rule of law” in Rivers.
El-Rufai contended that the Nigerian constitution does support such suspension by the president, saying, “It is dangerous to our system of democratic federalism for an elected president to assume and exercise powers to suspend elected officials at the state level.”
He said Tinubu’s action was wrong, adding that the president’s defence of the emergency rule fell flat.
El-Rufai called on Tinubu to reconsider his decision to suspend elected officials in his emergency rule declaration.
“There are things that are so clearly wrong that the justifications summoned in their defence fall flat. The decision of Mr. President to suspend the elected officials of the Rivers State Government is one of those. Our country’s Constitution does not support it precisely because it is dangerous to our system of democratic federalism for an elected president to assume and exercise powers to suspend elected officials at the State level. The responsibilities of a president are heavy and extensive, but they are constrained by the Constitution and the law and certainly do not include firing persons who were elected.
“The security issues cited in the President’s speech surely deserve the most serious attention and sustained efforts to contain the threats and preserve vital national infrastructure. That is a duty that we ought to vigorously support the security agencies to successfully discharge.
“A state of emergency could surely have been proclaimed to grant the relevant security agencies the extraordinary powers and necessary resources to enable them to address the problem. Extending the provisions of such an emergency regime to include the dismantling of democratic structures is a wanton aggression against democratic tenets and the rule of law. The Supreme Court has conclusively declared the suspension of elected officials unlawful in the Dariye vs. Attorney General of the Federation,” he added.
While acknowledging that the security issues cited by Tinubu in his nationwide broadcast deserve most serious attention and sustained efforts to contain the threats and preserve vital national infrastructure, El-Rufai posited that the military could have been supported to deliver such responsibility successfully through a state of emergency that does not require suspending elected officials.
Like PANDEF, El-Rufai reminded Tinubu that he (Tinubu) was once a critic of the former President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration when he declared a state of emergency in the northeast.
“It is my view that Mr. President should review this decision and return to the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law.
As an opposition figure, Senator Bola Tinubu had made his voice heard against the decision of then President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in the North-East, even when that decision did not extend to the suspension of elected officials and institutions. A similar reconsideration is warranted in this case to contain the damage done to the people of Rivers State, and restore the federal government to compliance with the constitution.
“Let us not keep silent while the slippery slope of replicating the events of emergency rule in the old Western Region in 1962 unfolds before our very eyes.
“I appeal to all patriots and voices of reason to join in calling an end to this gross violation of the Constitution and disrespect for the rule of law,” El-Rufai stated.
