EXCLUSIVE: NASS May Limit Tinubu’s Emergency Rule In Rivers

..May Propose President To Head Reconciliation Committee

The National Assembly is set to reduce the duration of President Bola Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers State from six months to three months, THE WHISTLER has learnt.

Tinubu, on Tuesday, suspended Governor Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all elected lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, citing the political unrest and security concerns in the oil-producing state.

A source within the legislature confirmed to THE WHISTLER that the federal lawmakers have decided to reduce the duration of the state of emergency declared on Tuesday.

The decision by NASS comes amid concerns by stakeholders including legal experts and civil society groups who have condemned the president’s move as immature.

“The National Assembly is committed to maintaining balance and protecting Nigeria’s democracy,” said a ranking senator who spoke to THE WHISTLER on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

“While we recognise the president’s constitutional powers, we believe three months is sufficient to address the political crisis and ensure the return to democratic governance in Rivers.”

Besides cutting the duration of the emergency rule, THE WHISTLER gathered that the National Assembly plans to set up a committee to broker peace within three months between key actors in the state.

They include Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, who had supported Fubara’s gubernatorial ambition before falling out with him barely three months after the polls.

The committee, comprising members from both chambers of the National Assembly and stakeholders in Rivers, would also monitor the activities of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd) who was appointed as the sole administrator of Rivers by President Tinubu.

The lawmaker told THE WHISTLER that the legislature will supervise the administrator’s decisions and ensure they align with constitutional provisions.

The source further revealed that the peace committee will be chaired by President Tinubu.

“The consideration is that the president, being the father of the nation and leader of Nigerian democracy. has a huge role to play,” the source revealed.

“We believe that there is no better person qualified to lead the reconciliation efforts except the president.”

The source added, “The FCT minister (Nyesom Wike) is his appointee and we believe the president is in the best place to call the minister to order and ask him to toe the path of reconciliation.

“The committee’s primary mandate is to find a lasting solution to the political impasse that has paralysed governance in Rivers State,” said the lawmaker familiar with the arrangement. “The National Assembly believes that only through genuine dialogue and compromise can sustainable peace be achieved in Rivers.”

The crisis took a new turn when suspected militants bombed the Niger Pipeline in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, and another oil facility in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, within 24 hours.

In his broadcast on Tuesday, Tinubu said: “With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state.”

However, the president’s decision has faced rejection from various quarters.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), headed by Mazi Afam Osigwe, described the emergency rule declaration as unconstitutional, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy.

“The removal of elected officials under the pretext of emergency rule is unconstitutional and unacceptable,” Osigwe stated in a press release issued hours after the president’s announcement.

Similarly, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, chaired by Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State, urged President Tinubu to reverse the state of emergency, describing it as “illegal and unacceptable” and “a premeditated attack on Rivers, the PDP and other opposition parties in the country.”

The PDP National Working Committee, in a separate statement, insisted that “no provision of the constitution empowered Mr. President to dismantle a sub-national government or suspend a democratically-elected governor under any situation whatsoever.”

Amidst these controversies, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, defended the president’s action, describing it as a “compromise” to prevent the impeachment of Governor Fubara and his deputy.

“Don’t forget there was a notice of impeachment from the House of Assembly. If that impeachment had been allowed to take its full course, then the governor would have lost entirely and completely,” Fagbemi told State House correspondents on Wednesday.

The Rivers crisis dates back to December 2023 when Governor Fubara demolished the State House of Assembly building. The incident occurred amid Fubara’s rift with the Rivers lawmakers siding with the governor’s former political godfather and FCT minister, Nyesom WIke.

The Supreme Court had described the demolition of the Rivers assembly and other actions of the governor as unconstitutional.

The governor had been governing with just four lawmakers, while the other 27 members, reportedly loyal to Wike, were conducting legislative business from other locations.

On February 28, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment on the crisis, stating that “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.”

The apex court further noted that “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.”

Meanwhile, Martins Amaewhule, Speaker of the suspended Rivers House of Assembly, has commended the president’s declaration of emergency rule and pledged to work with the sole administrator.

“The condition of our dear state today is mainly because of the malfeasance of the governor who serially disobeyed judgments and orders of courts, failed to govern the state in line with the oath of office and the Constitution,” Amaewhule stated in a letter to constituencies.

Earlier, some elders in Rivers strongly opposed the declaration of the state of emergency, arguing that the decision was made hastily and was not the solution to restore normalcy.

High Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, a chieftain of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), told journalists in Port Harcourt that all avenues for mediation should have been exhausted before resorting to emergency rule.

“President Tinubu’s invocation of Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution at this time is inappropriate.

“The president claims to have declared a state of emergency to restore peace, but the real question is: why is the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, the key figure in the crisis, not suspended,” he asked.

Sara-Igbe said that it was unconstitutional to suspend or remove elected officials from office.

“Unlike in Sokoto, Borno, and other northern states, there is no war or loss of lives in Rivers that warrants the declaration of emergency rule in a peaceful state.’’

He accused the President of not being sincere with the people of Rivers and had taken sides in the crisis through his actions and comments.