Amid the excitement among supporters of Siminalayi Fubara over his return to the Government House as Governor, following the end of the emergency rule in the state, a senior lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, believes there is no cause for celebration.
Adegboruwa said that rather than celebrate, Nigerian politicians should learn from history and deepen democracy by playing by the rules.
“I do not see any cause for celebration in any way,” the senior lawyer said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday.
Adegboruwa argued that the court must determine the circumstances under which the Constitution empowers the President to sack democratically elected public office holders in the country.
According to him, Section 305 has become a controversial section inserted in the Constitution, especially in terms of the powers granted to the President.
“When there is a need to declare a state of emergency, the consequential powers to be exercised by the President must be stated definitely,” he stated.
“If people exercise their mandate to elect others into office, as they did to Simila.. Fubara and all the members of the House of Assembly, it is a sacred mandate that should be preserved at all costs.
READ ALSO: Thousands Gather At Rivers Govt House For Fubara’s Return
“So, if there is a reason for a single individual, such as the President — with all due respect — to interfere with that mandate, the circumstances should be spelt out within the Constitution — whether it will be extended to removing those that were elected by the people.
“And I think that’s the area of the controversy — whether the President should have sacked the governor, whether he should have suspended, as it were, all democratically elected officers of Rivers State in the course of this crisis. Those are matters that the court must determine one way or the other, and I think it’s one of the lessons we must take from this exercise,” said Adegboruwa.
Emergency Rule
President Bola Tinubu had declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Sim Fubara, his deputy, and members of the House of Assembly, following the struggle for power between Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyeso Wike.
Tinubu immediately appointed and swore in a retired naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), as the sole administrator for the oil-rich Niger Delta state.
Months after the President reconciled the major actors in Abuja, he announced the end of the emergency rule on Wednesday.
In a statement he personally signed, Tinubu explained that Rivers would have been thrown into anarchy if emergency rule had not been declared.
