•Abubakar and Tinubu
A member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in Rivers State at the House of Representatives, Awaji-Inombek Abiante, has asked President Bola Tinubu to restore Governor Siminalayi Fubara before the expiration of the six-month emergency rule period.
Abiante also called on the president to engage the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, to mediate with the warring parties in the oil-rich state and find a common ground for peace, reports Channels TV.
The lawmaker said this yesterday on Channels Television.
•Awaji-Inombek Abiante
Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu; as well as the Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months. Tinubu also appointed ex-naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd.), as sole administrator for the state for the period of the emergency rule.
Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he can’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action. His decision was backed by the National Assembly in a controversial voice vote that has been heavily faulted.
The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives has been expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.
Intelligence Rigged?
Abiante said there are a few gaps even in the actions of the National Assembly, saying provisions were not made for those who chose to vote a yes, a no or to abstain.
He said some of the gaps in the president’s claims include that Fubara did not make efforts to rebuild the demolished chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
“That is not correct,” he said, citing the visit of the new sole administrator inspecting the building under construction that Fubara started.
“There was this issue that pipelines were broken; there was an explosion; it’s also on record that the pipeline is back to work,” Abiante said.
According to him, the intelligence the president relied upon to declare an emergency rule in Rivers might have been rigged.
“That is to tell us that it is either the intelligence that was relied upon may have been rigged. If in this country we could rig intelligence to the president, are we not in danger?” he asked.
Abiante suggested that the peace committee led by Abdulsalami should be called upon to intervene in the state’s political crisis. The peace committee has eminent Nigerians including Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah; the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad III; amongst others as members.
He said, “I can’t think of any other group of persons higher than that. If he had the opportunity as a military general to elongate his stay in power, he didn’t do it. Let us repopulate the committee with him taking the lead. Let us see if the parties involved would also refuse to subject themselves to the level of discussions.”
“It would be wrong to allow this thing to fester; it would even be very wrong to allow it to get to that six months because you will begin to play Nigerians against fellow Nigerians.
“On the streets of Port Harcourt, what is being discussed is that it is the fight to grab the resources of Rivers State. Let us not forget that Rivers State contributes so much to the welfare of Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Mr president should also understand that he also got some votes from Rivers State; it was not just one vote. In politics, one man cannot be in his polling unit and be in the local government area.
“So, no one man can deliver the votes in a state. If we now begin to say there is one Superman and because of that superman, we want to mortgage the people, if the people’s resistance comes, the superman can only cast a single vote and that would be all,” the lawmaker added.
Also speaking, a policy advisor, Baba Yusuf, scolded federal lawmakers from opposition parties in the National Assembly for losing their voices and not rejecting emergency rule in Rivers.
Yusuf, a former chief executive of Airport Free Trade Zone, Nigeria, said the rights of the people to vote for whoever they want have been suspended by the presidential proclamation.
“The people that have been entrusted with that trust by the people have failed the people and have now decided to take the fight to a personal level. However, you see it, it is a personal fight.
“The biggest focal point for me and Nigerians is the National Assembly. The president can do whatever he wants. What is key for us is that which was lacking 25 years ago before we got into the Fourth Republic that people died and we shed tears and we lost time with military juntas, the legislature is the missing link that made democracy what it is anywhere in the world.
“And here we are alas! We have a legislature that has come into play. I put squarely the responsibility of what happened in Rivers on the National Assembly, especially the opposition caucus that has suddenly lost their voice.”
Similarly, a social commentator, Dayo Akintobi, agreed with Yusuf that the opposition lost its voice in the National Assembly.
“Where was the opposition? Their voices were drowned out. I’m sure that the votes were not overwhelming; there would have been one or two dissents but there was no opportunity for them to even express that dissent.”
He said the framers of the Constitution did not intend to empower the president with the authority to truncate the will of the power vested in the democratic process.
Akintobi said it was a presidential overreach to declare a state of emergency and suspend the governor.
