‘I’m Surprised Fubara Is Sitting Down’ – Akande Claims Tinubu Would Have Resisted Suspension

Former presidential spokesman, Laolu Akande, has urged the suspended Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, to challenge his suspension in court.

Naijaonpoint recalls that President Bola Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months.

Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he could not continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.

The president immediately appointed and swore in a retired naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), as the sole administration for the oil-rich Niger Delta state.

In an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, March 27, 2025, Akande said it is surprising that Fubara lack the courage to challenge the suspension in court.

According to him, Fubara should not have waited for seven governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to institute a suit before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, challenging his suspension.

Akande said it is illegal for an elected president to suspend an elected governor of a state in the way it was done.

The former presidential aide opined that Tinubu would have approached the Supreme Court if a president had suspended him when he was Lagos State governor between May 1999 and May 2007.

Tinubu, who was in the opposition party as Lagos governor, was recorded to have challenged the seizure of local government funds by the then-President Olusegun Obasanjo government.

He said, “It’s a good move what the governors of the PDP have done. They probably would be able to save the day. But I’m surprised that Governor Fubara himself is sitting down. If somebody did this to Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was governor of Lagos, do you know what he would be doing?

“He (Fubara) should be the first to go to court; he is still the governor, he still has a status; he’s not been removed. He couldn’t be removed that way. There is a questionable suspension.

“The first thing Governor Fubara ought to do if he knew what he was doing was to go to court. And to tell his people that what has happened in Rivers State is against the law but he couldn’t find the courage.

“How can I be a governor and the president who was also elected is asking me to go away?

“Of course, I will go away so that there is no trouble but I will go to the courts. And I will tell my people, you elected me, the president has asked me to go to court. It is wrong and I will fight it. That is how we can build democracy. It is not about people in Agbada (flowing gown).”