Fubara: Tinubu playing god in Rivers – ADC

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the Rivers State governmental crisis, describing the suspension and consequent reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara arsenic a unsafe precedent that could weaken Nigeria’s ideology and promote national overreach.

The enactment warned that the improvement posed a superior hazard to law governance and the equilibrium of powerfulness betwixt national and authorities authorities.

In a connection signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC expressed interest implicit the President’s attack to resolving the struggle successful Rivers State, saying it raised questions astir the due limits of enforcement authority.

Abdullahi said the determination was much astir ‘political strategy’ than genuine efforts to fortify democracy.

“On Wednesday, 17 September, Nigerians witnessed a funny spectacle: President Tinubu directing the Governor, Deputy Governor, and members of the State Assembly successful Rivers State to ‘resume’ duties aft serving his six-month suspension from office,” Abdullahi said.

The ADC argued that Tinubu’s actions amounted to assuming powers not granted to the presidency nether the constitution, thereby undermining the regularisation of instrumentality and the antiauthoritarian process.

“The President’s determination to arrogate to himself the powerfulness to suspend and callback elected officials successful Rivers State is whimsically autocratic and should beryllium recognised and condemned arsenic a menace to our democracy,” Abdullahi declared.

The enactment further alleged that the six-month authorities of exigency declared successful Rivers was politically engineered, alternatively than a effect to genuine danger.

According to Abdullahi, Tinubu failed to enactment arsenic a neutral arbiter and alternatively utilized law provisions to beforehand the interests of almighty figures wrong his administration.

“What has happened successful Rivers State implicit the past six months is simply a brazen manipulation of law provisions to service constrictive governmental interests.

“The concern that served arsenic the pretext for the declaration of the authorities of exigency was a wide enactment of governmental contrivance that simply required the President’s unbiased intervention. Instead, helium deployed the powerfulness of the constitution to onslaught what helium ought to person protected,” the enactment said.

The ADC argued that by sidelining elected officials without judicial process, the President efficaciously stripped the radical of Rivers State of their close to beryllium governed by leaders they freely chose astatine the ballot box.

“For six agelong months, the volition of the radical of Rivers State was acceptable aside. Their elected leaders were, successful effect, enactment connected suspension, not by a tribunal of law, but by a President who himself was elected.

“Now, with the question of a manus and the changeable of his pen, the aforesaid President has decided to ‘allow’ different duly elected officials backmost to work, arsenic though they were his governmental appointees,” the ADC added.

The enactment reminded Tinubu of his ain past arsenic a authorities politician who erstwhile championed federalism and authorities autonomy, contrasting it with his contiguous actions, which it said person reduced governors to subordinates of the national government.

“The President is not a headmaster, and governors are not his pupils to beryllium sent location and recalled astatine his discretion.

“Yet, with this action, the President and his men person achieved their goals; not to reconstruct bid to Rivers State, but to unafraid a thoroughly pacified authorities loyal to Abuja,” Abdullahi stressed.

The connection besides dismissed claims by statesmanlike aides that Tinubu chopped abbreviated his abrogation owed to worsening insecurity successful the country. Instead, it alleged that helium returned to personally oversee Fubara’s reinstatement and consolidate his power implicit Rivers politics.

“By removing a sitting politician and present personally directing his return, the connection could not person been clearer: ‘I removed you, and I unsocial tin bring you back.’

“This was not astir law, justice, oregon governance. It was astir control—about reinforcing the thought that, successful today’s Nigeria, institutions whitethorn exist, but they stay subordinate to the volition of 1 man,” the ADC asserted.

The enactment further highlighted Section 305 of the Constitution, which provides for exigency powers, noting that it was ne'er intended to beryllium utilized for governmental purposes.

According to the A...