The recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has effectively stripped the state of its autonomy, placing governance directly under the control of the Federal Executive Council (FEC). While the official justification for this drastic measure is to restore stability, the political reality is far more revealing.

This is not just federal intervention—it is a well-executed takeover that has cemented the influence of former Governor Nyesom Wike, making him the de facto ruler of Rivers State.

A FEDERAL TAKEOVER IN THE NAME OF STABILITY

For months, Rivers State has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and factions within the state legislature. The crisis escalated with the demolition of the House of Assembly building and the paralysis of governance. The Supreme Court even warned that a state cannot function without a properly constituted government, providing the perfect excuse for federal intervention.

President Tinubu, invoking Section 305 of the Constitution, suspended the executive and legislative arms of Rivers State and appointed Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd.) as Sole Administrator. But this was no ordinary intervention. Ibas was not given the powers of a governor—he cannot enact laws, make executive decisions, or govern independently. Instead, he must refer all matters to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), where final decisions on Rivers State will now be made in Abuja.

THE MOST SYMBOLIC MOMENT: IBAS SWORN IN WITHOUT RIVERS REPRESENTATION

Perhaps the most telling moment of this entire process was the swearing-in of Ibas. Rather than taking place in Rivers State, as would be expected for a state administrator, the ceremony was held at the Presidents’s meeting room in Abuja.

Even more shockingly, the only Rivers indigene present was Nyesom Wike.

No other Rivers leader, elder, or stakeholder was invited. Not a single other Rivers man or woman witnessed the transition of power. The symbolism of this moment cannot be ignored. It was a clear message:
– Rivers State is no longer governed from Port Harcourt—it is now controlled from Abuja.
– ⁠The people of Rivers have lost their voice.
– ⁠And Wike is now the only person who speaks for them.

WIKE: THE DE FACTO GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE

With the governor and legislature suspended, decision-making for Rivers State now rests solely with the FEC. But in that council, only one person represents Rivers: Nyesom Wike.

This means:
– Every policy, budget, and governance decision concerning Rivers State will be discussed and approved in Abuja, where Wike is the sole voice speaking for the state.
– ⁠There is no elected governor to challenge him.
– ⁠There is no House of Assembly to provide checks and balances.
– ⁠There is no opposition within the state to counterbalance his influence.

Wike has now secured more power than he ever had as an elected governor. He does not need to campaign. He does not need to answer to the people of Rivers. He controls the state from Abuja with the full backing of the Presidency.

A CAREFULLY ORCHESTRATED CAPTURE

Wike’s re-emergence as the de facto ruler of Rivers State did not happen by accident. Since leaving office in 2023, he has remained at the center of Rivers politics, ensuring that his grip on power never loosened. His rift with Governor Fubara was not about governance—it was about control.

Now, with emergency rule in place, Wike no longer needs to fight for control of Rivers from within. Instead, he has positioned himself as the single voice representing Rivers at the highest level of government.

A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

This move sets a dangerous precedent for Nigerian democracy:
1. Can the federal government now take over any state experiencing political instability?
2. ⁠If Rivers can be governed remotely from Abuja, what stops the same from happening to other states?
3. ⁠Does this mean that states can be stripped of their autonomy whenever it is politically convenient?

By placing Rivers governance in the hands of one man at the FEC, this intervention is not about stability—it is about consolidating power.

A STATE WITHOUT A VOICE

For the people of Rivers, the implications are dire. Their state is now governed by decisions made in Abuja, not by their elected officials. Their resources, policies, and future development are now subject to the interests of a federal minister who no longer holds an official mandate in the state.

Wike is now the sole gatekeeper of Rivers affairs. He decides what is discussed. He decides what is approved. And with the full support of the Presidency, he has achieved something unprecedented: total control without an election.

THE FINAL QUESTION: WHO SPEAKS FOR RIVERS NOW?

With the governor, deputy governor, and lawmakers all sidelined, and Wike sitting comfortably as the only voice at the FEC, Rivers State is now in the hands of one man. The people must ask themselves:
– Is this the governance they voted for?
– ⁠Can Rivers truly claim to be a federating unit when it has no local decision-making power?
– ⁠Has Rivers State officially become an extension of Abuja’s political power play?

If the people of Rivers remain silent, they risk becoming mere spectators in the administration of their own state. The final capture of Rivers has been completed—not through elections, not through democracy, but through a carefully designed federal maneuver that has placed power in the hands of a single man.

And that man is Nyesom Wike.

Suddenly, the crisis in the Nigerian senate has been replaced in the headlines by the state of emergency declared in Rivers state by President Bola Tinubu and the resurgence of bombings in the creeks. Senator Godswill Akpabio is perhaps the happiest politician in the country today because of the respite he has just received. I understand that the “Queen of the Senate” was already planning to give interviews to CNN; Al Jazeera and other cable networks to further ridicule the senate president. She has also been invited to make presentations at a few women’s events in Lagos and Abuja in the months ahead.

But she’s had to shelve her media plans in view of the national mood and the shift in attention to Rivers. However, she is going ahead with her intentions to write to Western embassies in Abuja to report Senator Akpabio and advise them to register the senate president as “a serial sex offender”. She’s a relentless fighter and she knows what she wants, one of her advisers told me.

Meantime, continued explosions in the creeks of the Niger Delta will disrupt crude oil production and exports, and this would set the economy tail spinning into chaos. The Nigerian economy has been experiencing its severest fiscal crisis in a generation and further commotions could trigger a recession – a nightmare scenario that is better imagined than experienced.

Although his backers are quick to ascribe supernatural political powers to the president, he is clearly out of depth in his handling of the Rivers crisis. He has allowed a combination of bad politics, greed and the politics of 2027 to cloud his sense of judgement. Nyesom Wike was able to procure a bogus election result in favour of APC in the 2023 presidential election and that helped propel Tinubu into office, while Wike became his premier political ally. With another election coming in two years, there have been mounting revolts against the president from important political blocs in the north – a region that gave him the invaluable support he badly needed. The north claims that his draconian economic policies have worsened poverty in the region and his nepotism has denied the region the patronage it’s used to.

Desperate for a second term, the president has turned to the eight southern states where his party is not in power for succour – four in south-south; three in south-east and one in south-west. He wants to railroad them into supporting him. Akwa Ibom governor, Umo Eno, is under severe pressure to decamp to APC, while the governors of Bayelsa and Delta have been told to pledge their unalloyed support for Tinubu.

The suspension of Governor Sim Fubara and the Rivers house of assembly through the emergency rule last night is deemed illegal by various constitutional lawyers, scholars and commentators, but it is an option preferred by the president’s strategists as the easiest way to capture the state.

Dismantling the political structures in a state and imposing a military officer on the people is tantamount to a coup and Nigerians are expectedly aghast. Tinubu has imperiled this democracy and we have to stand up to him and resist this dictatorship.

David Augustine, a Nigerian journalist who is studying for a PhD in the UK, said: “Tinubu has been pretending to be a progressive politician; a patriot and fighter for the causes of democracy. He has been pretending to be intelligent and pragmatic. But the veil has been lifted. He has unravelled as a scheming, slimy dictator; an economic nitwit and a colossal, corrupt and nepotistic politician entirely fixated on feathering his political and economic nests at the expense of the people and the nation’s wellbeing. He is unwittingly throwing the country to the pre-Yar’adua era of pipeline sabotage and the attendant near-crippling economic stagnation – a situation deftly managed with diplomacy, responsibility, and clear-eyed sensitivity.

“It took the humility of President Yar’adua and his enormous personal integrity and trust capital to navigate the country through that era. Tinubu does not have the humility, the tact, the integrity, and the character to get the country out of a similar bind. Every step he takes now would be seen as the politics of 2027. Thus, the national consensus that helped to douse the tension just before the amnesty programme would be lacking.

“The president lacks the sensitivity to act with time. He is too steeped in politics to transform into a national leader and statesman. If care is not taken, his end would be catastrophic for the entire country. We pray we don’t get to that point. His misadventure in Rivers state must be keenly watched for its likely effect on the nation.”

When this crisis is finally over and the dust has settled (hopefully the roof won’t collapse on all of us), there will be enough admonitions for the key actors. For Nyesom Wike, your greed is your major undoing; for Tinubu, you cannot pretend for too long because you are neither Awolowo nor Ghandi and for Akpabio, ‘’the queen’’ is not yet done; choose your friends more carefully; set and respect boundaries for your enemies are closer than you think.

“The lizard who threw confusion into his mother’s funeral rite, did he expect outsiders to carry the burden of honouring his dead?” – Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God

Chinua Achebe used this proverb as a metaphor for the tragedy of his main character, Ezeulu, whose obstinate action led to his downfall. March 2025 is arguably President Tinubu’s best month since becoming President.

As many analysts and critics were trying to situate the spate of good news, the President, like the lizard, threw confusion into his lunch party.

Let’s look at the data. After years of turbulence, Nigeria was beginning to see signs of stability. The government has restored investor confidence, improved forex liquidity, and reduced inflationary pressures through difficult reforms. The green shoots of recovery were visible, even if the pain of reform was still fresh.

Key Indicators

Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) on the Rise
* $3.48 billion flowed into Nigeria in six months, compared to $756.1 million before reforms.
* FPI increased by 7.13% in January, reflecting renewed investor confidence.

Naira Stabilising
* The exchange rate, which had collapsed to ₦2,000/$, has recovered to ₦1,508.59/$ due to better forex management.
* The $7 billion forex backlog has been cleared, reducing pressure on businesses and the banking sector.

Food Prices Beginning to Correct
* In major markets, rice, beans, and tomatoes fell by 15-20%.
* Market forces, not government intervention, were driving these corrections.

External Reserves Strengthening
* Nigeria’s reserves grew from $33.3 billion in September 2023 to $40.91 billion in January 2025, showing improved forex stability.
Oil Production Recovering
* Production reached 1.476 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, though still below budgeted targets of 2M (bpd)

This is the reality: Nigeria was beginning to turn a corner. The economy was far from perfect, but the trajectory was clear. The last thing the country needed was a political earthquake capable of undoing these fragile gains.

Sadly, the President took a wrong turn at his finest moment. Nigeria stands at the precipice of a self-inflicted crisis. The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State—suspending the Governor, dissolving the State House of Assembly, and installing a retired military officer as administrator—demands reflection. Is this a genuine response to an existential security threat, or is it a political manoeuvre that will impose unnecessary costs on the nation?

When a government invokes emergency powers, it signals the collapse of constitutional governance in that jurisdiction. It is the admission that existing institutions have failed and that democratic order is no longer sustainable. If so, then the nation must ask: What is the emergency? Is Rivers State in a state of lawlessness beyond the capacity of security agencies? Or is this a political calculation that sacrifices the country’s stability at the altar of expediency?

The Consequences of Political Instability

History has shown that political instability is the quickest way to derail economic recovery. Investors, local and foreign, do not operate in uncertainty. The declaration of an emergency in a significant economic hub like Rivers State would have far-reaching consequences:

Capital Flight and Investor Retreat
* The NGX already reported a 9.89% decline in transactions in January—a sign that investor sentiment is fragile.
* A political emergency could trigger another round of capital flight, reversing hard-won gains.

Exchange Rate Instability
* The naira’s recovery could be reversed if investors withdraw funds due to uncertainty.
* A renewed forex crisis would spike inflation and hurt businesses reliant on imports.

Oil Production Disruptions
* Rivers State is a key oil-producing state. A governance crisis could lead to uncertainty among operators.
* A 10% decline in oil production (from 1.476 million bpd to ~1.33 million bpd) would cost Nigeria billions in revenue.

Weakening of Federalism and Institutional Integrity
* If the National Assembly approves this emergency declaration, it sets a precedent that no state is safe.
* Political disputes, rather than genuine security threats, could be used to justify emergency rules in the future.

This is beyond Rivers State. It is about the future of governance in Nigeria.

This is not the first time Nigeria has faced a political crisis that tested the foundations of federalism. In 1962, the Federal Government declared a state of emergency in the Western Region, citing political unrest.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the opposition, warned against using emergency powers for political purposes, stating:

“The Prime Minister thinks that this very far-reaching provision of the Constitution should be invoked merely to save a friend!”

What followed was political repression, legal battles, and deepening regional distrust. The Western Region crisis destabilised the First Republic, leading to a military coup, counter-coup, and eventually, the Nigerian Civil War.

The lesson from history Is clear: Political emergencies often escalate beyond their original intent. What begins as a calculated move to achieve short-term political advantage can lead to long-term national instability.

The Emergency We Need

Suppose Nigeria must declare a state of emergency. In that case, it should focus on real crises such as youth unemployment, insecurity, and the failing healthcare and education sectors, which threaten national stability.

Additionally, the rising cost of governance remains unsustainable, and urgent reforms are needed to ensure efficient resource management. Political disputes and power struggles should not precede these pressing national challenges.

Possible Ways Forward on the Rivers State Crisis

The Federal Government should continue mediating between the political actors in Rivers instead of using emergency powers.

Security agencies should be strengthened to maintain law and order, rather than replacing elected officials.

The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) should be involved in a broader political solution.

A Call to NASS: Save the President from an Own Goal

The National Assembly has a constitutional duty to review and approve any emergency declaration. It is not a rubber stamp. It is an institution designed to check executive overreach.

The National Assembly should understand that the issue is beyond Rivers State; it is about protecting Nigeria’s democratic integrity and economic recovery. It is also about the sanctity of the votes of Rivers State people and the federal government's role in resolving subnational conflicts.

Rejecting this emergency is a sacred duty and an act of national preservation. If the Presidential action of suspending democratic institutions, an action unknown to our laws, stands, Nigeria will bear the economic and political costs for years to come.

A Moment for Leadership

President Tinubu had an opportunity to consolidate his economic recovery gains. Instead, he risked unravelling them with an avoidable political escalation.

Is this an overreach? Yes. The situation in Rivers does not warrant a state of emergency.

Is it an own goal? Absolutely. The economy was stabilising, and this action has introduced unnecessary uncertainty.

Is there a way back? Yes, but it requires leadership from the National Assembly and restraint from the Executive.

The lizard that throws confusion into its mother’s funeral must be ready to bear the consequences alone.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proclamation of emergency rule in Rivers State on Tuesday surprised me for reasons different from those for which he has been severely criticised.

The mildest criticism is that Tinubu’s failure to call the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, to order was responsible for the crisis. The more severe criticisms range from accusations that the president has subverted constitutional rule to charges of potential destabilisation at the behest of Wike.

A common point of agreement is that a civilian president should never have to declare emergency rule. That is the ideal. But Rivers State before Tuesday presented a dire and complicated situation that stretched idealism to its elastic limits.

Chaos in slow motion

It’s convenient, especially for those who promoted and profited from the crisis, to pretend otherwise. Still, after the 27 state lawmakers loyal to Wike issued an impeachment notice, the outcome, if Governor Siminalayi Fubara had been impeached, might have been far worse for the state than can be contemplated under emergency rule. The proclamation was an unsolicited stitch in time.

If oil pipelines were already being blown up and militants deploying as the impeachment notice reached Fubara, what would have happened if the process had carried through? Rivers State has been chaos in slow motion for nearly two years, the only thriving business in the state being the politics of those who support Fubara and those who are against Wike.

The Supreme Court’s judgment invalidated the budget passed by Fubara and nullified the local government election. It affirmed the position of the 27 lawmakers, making Fubara’s government a lame duck. Emergency rule saved the governor from gunpoint, created a pause for the people to get their lives back, and made room for Wike and Fubara to stop and reflect. It’s a messy situation, but the counterfactual could have been worse.

Between Wike and Fubara

Popular media has framed Fubara as the victim of a grasping, unforgiving godfather, which suits his comportment. But during this inconvenient pause, it might be helpful for the governor to reflect on what he might have done differently, something that pressure by those egging him on for their narrow, selfish reasons might not have given him the space to do.

In the public imagination, control of the state’s “political structure” is at the heart of the dispute between Fubara and Wike. Whether that is so, whether it’s about who the “authentic” party leader is, or it is more than what the public knows, Fubara and Wike know. We can only guess. But they both know.

Open war

The open war started after Fubara’s swearing-in when the governor wanted to install his candidate as speaker in the House of Assembly but failed. What was the point of demolishing the State House of Assembly complex built for hundreds of millions of naira with taxpayers’ money in December 2023 simply on the suspicion that the lawmakers were planning to impeach him there? Why did the governor think it was right to convene four of 31 lawmakers in his office to present the appropriation bill and then go on to implement it?

And why, after the peace deal brokered in Abuja, was it difficult for him to be his own man, free himself as the hostage of opportunistic local politicians and self-appointed opinion leaders and implement the decisions reached instead of caving into busybodies in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) whose primary interest is to continue the unfinished war of the 2022 Convention by other means?

Atiku No 2.

The PDP leadership and their cousins in Labour have never forgiven Wike for supporting Tinubu’s election. They have been quite loud in condemning the state of emergency. That’s their job as opposition. However, if the PDP is letting its testosterone rush get into its head and impair memory, we may need to remind the party how we got here.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been quite vocal in condemning emergency rule in Rivers State. In his earnestness, he has forgotten that the government in which he was the Number Two man had a shambolic record of infidelity to constitutional rule. And that is saying it nicely.

One can argue that President Olusegun Obasanjo’s proclamation of emergency rule in Plateau State in 2004, though controversial, was inevitable because of the horrific deaths caused by the sectarian violence, which led to reprisals in other states. Yet, former Governor Joshua Dariye’s suspected links to the crisis made his suspension inevitable.

Bayelsa playbook

Atiku could not have forgotten that when his boss did it again in Ekiti State two years later, it was mainly to facilitate Obasanjo’s hijack of the state for his political convenience after lawmakers claimed to have impeached the governor. Fayose had become a thorn in his side, and he vowed to remove him by all means, fair and foul.

Atiku may argue that he had been estranged from the government then and could not bear vicarious liability. However, he remained a part of the government until the end and must endure its glory and shame.

Or perhaps he would have preferred the impeachment of Fubara from Obasanjo’s Bayelsa playbook? In that case, instead of an emergency rule, Tinubu would have provided a haven where the majority 27 lawmakers would have met under heavy security protection to remove the governor, as Obasanjo did under slightly different circumstances, in the case of former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

Amaechi’s forgotten diary

Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, a longstanding foe of Wike, also weighed in, condemning the “power grab’s illegality.” He has a right to intervene and speak his mind. However, since he called the proclamation “an affront” to the rule of law and a power grab, it might be helpful to remind him of a typical, but by no means isolated, example from his record as governor.

In 2013, when the position of chief judge in Rivers State was vacant, Amaechi appointed and swore in the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Peter Agumagu, against decency and the provisions of law. He joined issues with the National Judicial Commission (NJC), which was at its wit’s end to restrain him and keep him on the path of common sense. The state judiciary reeled under Amaechi’s blatant affront for one year, something he now conveniently forgets.

Apples and oranges

Parallels have been drawn between the state of emergency in Rivers State and the one in 1962 during the Western Region crisis, especially as the latter was believed to have led the country down the slippery slope that eventually ended in the removal of the Tafawa Balewa government and the Civil War.

The underlying currents may be similar – local politics gone rogue – but the consequences or potential consequences are not. Constitutional lawyers can debate the legal triggers because of the lack of clarity in Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, compared with the 1960 Constitution, a pre-Republican document that gave the prime minister more expansive powers.

While the emergency rule in the Western Region was mainly an opportunistic intervention by the federal government to undermine the Obafemi Awolowo-led opposition, the emergency in Rivers State was an inevitable step to prevent a potential descent into chaos, where the governor was not an innocent bystander.

Water in the coconut

Since 1999, two administrations – Mohammadu Buhari’s and Umaru Yar’Adua’s being the only exceptions – have proclaimed emergency rule. Apart from 2013, when President Goodluck Jonathan left the governors of the three affected states in place because they had no link to the crises in their states, complicity has affected the scope of the application of emergency rule.

When Obasanjo threatened an emergency in Lagos, Tinubu said it was unacceptable because he was doing his best as governor to tackle the sectarian clashes in a small part of the state then. In Rivers, the governor is a part of the problem.

Those opposed to the proclamation should say how to leave Fubara in place and extract the water of peace from the coconut of Rivers State without breaking the shell on the head of the people.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (MBLF) considers and utterly condemns the declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers State, including the dissolution of the State House of Assembly and particularly the removal from office of the Governor of the state Similayi Fubara and his Deputy by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The SMBLF observed that the grounds contained in the Notice of Impeachment of the Governor and his Deputy published by the Rivers State House of Assembly a day before are to all intents and purposes deliberate rehearsals of the reasons given by the President for his unconstitutional take over of the Government of Rivers State.

That notwithstanding pretences to the contrary and pandering to judicial pronouncements in denial the world is not deceived that the House of Assembly which published the Notice of Impeachment is constituted by 27 members who have defected and become members of the President’s political party and that the declaration of the State of Emergency is only a perfection of the impeachment conspiracy.

That by its service of Notice of Impeachment and adjournment of the House of Assembly sine die thereby frustrating the implementation of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the running of the affairs of the state, members of the House of Assembly of the same Political Party with the President are responsible for the present situation of “the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy” as alleged by the President.

That it is most unfortunate that President Tinubu would unconstitutionally terminate a democratically elected administration on the flimsy ground that “some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them” without investigation of the alleged culpability of the Governor.

That in a federation in which the President is vested with absolute powers over security and the federating states denied of any role therein, it is most unfair that the President would hold Governor Fubara responsible for the failure of proactive security intelligence under his command which obviously led to what he described as “disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them”.

That there is no provision in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria including section 305 (5) under whichPresident Tinubu claimed to have derived his authority which allows the Federal Government to take-over the government of any of the federating states.

The only situation wherein governance of a state may be interfered with is provided in section 11 (4) to which section 305 is subject that “at any time when any House of Assembly of a State is unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that State the National Assembly may exercise powers to make such laws for the peace and good government of a state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until l such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the State: Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the Governor or the Deputy Governor of the State from office”.

That there is no doubt that the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly whose fate, in the wake of their defection to the President’s party, is still subject of litigation, are presently, in cahoots with the Minister of the FCT, responsible for the inability of the State Assembly to perform its functions for which reason the National Assembly may feel justifiably called upon to make laws for the state in the interim.

That the decision by the President to sack the democratically elected Government and appoint a military Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state by regulations subject to the consideration and approval by the Federal Executive Council is an undisguised and provocative handing over of Rivers State to its immediate past Governor and Minister of the FCT whose appetite for continuing ruling of the state by proxy is sought to be thereby quenched.

The SMBLF recalled that during the hey days of insurgency in the North East, President Goodluck Jonathan in conjunction with the National Assembly declared a state of emergency in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in 2013 without hurting the democratic structures of which the present Vice President who was then Governor of Borno State, in spite of his open hostility to the President, was a beneficiary.

That the National Assembly in the exercise of its powers under the Constitution particularly Sections 305 thereof is hereby called upon to countermand the despotic and ominous order of the President sacking a democratically elected administration in preference of a military Administrator in a proclamation reminiscent of our unenviable not too distant past.

The Youths of River State, and indeed that of the Niger Delta, should restrain from using violent reactions to this unfortunate development, as in the end its the citizenry that will pay the price of any economic sabotage.
That the citizens of Nigeria should stoutly discourage the growing culture of intolerance under the present administration tending Nigeria to a one-party state.

Issued at Abuja this 19th day of March 2025

Signed by:

HRH Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Afenifere Leader

Dr Bitrus Pogu, Middle Belt Leaders Forum National President

Senator John Azuta Mbata, Ohanaeze Ndigbo President General

Ambassador Godknows Igali, PANDEF National Chairman.

Ever since the fight for power and control commenced in Rivers State between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his immediate predecessor and current Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, it was obvious the two groups were going for broke. While Fubara may have lulled himself to proclaim, as he did last May, that the ‘Jungle has matured’ enough for him to take the fight to his godfather, he didn’t reckon with the deployment of federal might. On Tuesday, he learnt his lesson the hard way when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency that ousted him from office by appointing an administrator for Rivers State. Unfortunately, we have been down this dangerous route before, and it is always a slippery slope.

Although the crisis in Rivers State started immediately Wike left office, it took five months to blow open in October 2023, when some lawmakers loyal to him initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara. “All of us want to be politically relevant; all of us want to maintain our political structure,” Wike said in response to allegations that he was behind the surreptitious attempt to oust the governor. “Will you allow anybody to just cut you out immediately? Everybody has a base. If you take my base, am I not politically irrelevant?” 

Like the position taken by President Donald Trump on the war between Russia and Ukraine, President Tinubu took sides with Wike while urging Fubara to compromise for peace to reign in his state. What followed was the bombing of a section of the House of Assembly complex by forces loyal to the governor who then relocated the legislative arm to the Government House, Port Harcourt. And with 27 members ostracised, Fubara began to govern with four lawmakers domiciled within his office—making nonsense of the separation of powers doctrine on which the presidential system is anchored and without which there can be no transparency and accountability in governance.

Meanwhile, it is interesting that Tinubu is doing the same things he attacked his predecessors for before he became president. When in 2013, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three states, Tinubu said the country was “witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.” In a statement he personally signed, Tinubu called on “those who love this country genuinely (to) advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates of these Governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path to take.” He added: “Any measures put in place which alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives, should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right-thinking person in the country.”

Jonathan did not even remove the governors, yet Tinubu wrote a damning statement ‘in defence of democracy’. But the hypocrisy is understandable. Handlers of every sitting president have always seen declaration of emergency as a political tool that could deploy against opponents. On 3rd June 2014, for instance, the late Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, accused then Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, of ‘misadvising’ President Goodluck Jonathan, in a 16-page letter he (Clark) still decided to read to the media. After citing the examples of President Olusegun Obasanjo who used ‘emergency powers’ to suspend Dariye (Plateau State) on 18th May 2004 and Ayo Fayose (Ekiti State) on 19th October 2006, Clark wondered why Jonathan was being prevented by Adoke to apply the same principle to oust Governors Kashim Shettima (Borno), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe). “The President needs to suspend the affected states’ political structures because the roles of these governors have revealed them as conspirators who are hiding under the guise of opposition to display their politics of bitterness, hatred, ethnicity and religion to disparage him and scuttle Jonathan’s constitutional right to seek a second term as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution,” Clark wrote.

I believed at the time, and still do so today, that Adoke sided with the law and Jonathan acted correctly on the issue. I therefore consider the action taken by President Tinubu on the crisis in Rivers State as self-serving, and to use his own words, “setting in motion a chain of events the end of which nobody can predict.” But before I conclude, let me take also a few excerpts from my June 2014 column:

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When in May 2004, President Obasanjo suspended from office Governor Dariye and members of the House of Assembly while appointing a Sole Administrator for Plateau State, the consensus of most prominent lawyers at the time was that he acted beyond his powers. From Chief FRA Williams to Professors Ben Nwabueze and Itse Sagay, the argument was that there is nothing in the Constitution that so empowers the president to take the actions he did. In fact, rather uncharacteristically, the late Williams issued a legal position which he circulated to the media. Titled ‘Illegality and Unconstitutionality of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Declaration of Emergency and Suspension of the Governor and Parliament of Plateau State’ and dated 22 May 2004, ‘Timi The Law’ (as he was fondly called) wrote: “There is no provision contained in any part of our Constitution which confers such a power on the President. It is a contradiction of all known principles of true federation operating in a democratic society. The Governor is elected by the people of the state. So are the members of the House of Assembly. It was a recognition of these facts that informed the provisions inserted in our Constitution relating to the exercise of emergency powers…”

However, having spent several hours at the United States Information Service (USIS) in Lagos, scouring through documents and papers, I wrote a two-part column that I gathered earned me the sobriquet of ‘good boy’ at the villa at a period I was very critical of the Obasanjo presidency. Since the usual refrain in the country at that time was “this cannot happen in America”, I had relied on a 1989 document of the Library of Congress titled ‘Powers of the Presidency’ to suggest that such assumption was not entirely correct. Of course, it didn’t matter at the time that my intervention was more an academic exercise on the powers of the presidency than an endorsement of what Obasanjo did.

According to the Congressional paper, “this argument that presidents have the authority to violate the Constitution, to ensure the security of the nation, has been used by wartime presidents to justify extraordinary exercises of power. When it is evident that conditions of national peril exist, Congress and the American public have turned to the president for leadership. Under such conditions, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt stretched, reinterpreted, and in some cases, brazenly violated the Constitution in the name of national security. Their claim to an inherent executive power to safeguard the nation was accepted because the American people generally agreed with their assessment of the gravity of the emergency at hand. Presidential claims of an inherent executive power during a doubtful national emergency, however, will likely fail the test of public and judicial scrutiny…”

The crux of my position was that while a US President might not have removed elected public officials as Obasanjo did, some had also performed no less unconstitutional acts. For that reason, I argued that Obasanjo may have exercised powers beyond what the Constitution specified to curtail a situation that could lead to a breakdown of law and order in Plateau States at the time. I, however, went further to state that in the United States, the National Emergency Act of 1976 (PL94-412) terminated all states of emergency that were in effect until that time while also setting in place procedures for declaring and, more important from the view of many in Congress, terminating future states of emergency.

In the case of Nigeria, the ‘Emergency Powers Act 1961’ which Obasanjo sought to ‘modify’ was no longer in use which meant there was already a legal vacuum for the action he took on Plateau State. To that extent, I asked the National Assembly to look beyond the person of Dariye, ethnic affiliations and the religions members professed, to the larger implications for the future of our democracy. The question I asked them to address was, should the president have the power to suspend Governors and House of Assembly members and if yes, what political structure should be in place in the intervening period of interregnum and for how long…

ENDNOTE:

I wrote the foregoing in 2014 as a rehash of my earlier column published 21 years ago. While President Obasanjo got away with two ‘emergencies’ that ousted governors from office, President Jonathan chose not to travel that route in a commendable act of statesmanship. But the same Tinubu who waxed lyrical about the illegality of such action in the past has suspended the governor and legislature in a state after what is no more than a contrived crisis. The real danger, as we are now seeing in the United States where the powers of the president are being stretched, is that this may be the beginning of testing the limits of many of the assumptions that undergird our democracy in pursuit of self-interest.

In endorsing the suspension of Dariye in my 20 May 2004 column, ‘The President and His Powers’, I took account of the way he mismanaged the ethno-religious killings in his state, and for speaking the ‘we-versus-them’ language of war at a time the people needed peace. But despite my position on Dariye, I nonetheless raised a few pertinent questions that are still relevant today: Can this declaration not become an avenue for mischief makers in some states to put their governors under the siege of violence and then expect the president to wield the big stick? Under a system that is becoming increasingly intolerant of opposing views, are we not susceptible to constitutional dictatorship? Will a successful execution of this emergency order not embolden the president to go the ‘extra mile’ in other extra-constitutional matters, even concerning his term of office? Are we not unwittingly encouraging the creation of an Alberto Fujimori (who as an elected president dissolved the Peruvian Congress and Supreme Court, effectively becoming a dictator)? Have all the available options been explored before this emergency rule? Is it only a ‘military administrator’ that can instil order in a supposedly democratic government?

Like the mother of the dead child in the Biblical story of King Solomon’s judgment, the Rivers State House of Assembly Speaker, Martin Ameawhule, who led Wike’s ground forces against Fubara, has endorsed the presidential proclamation. But my main concern is about the future of our democracy. Considering how the president ‘resolved’ the Lagos State House of Assembly crisis in a manner that saw the return of an impeached Speaker, we should all be afraid of breeding an imperial presidency. With the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretary, Ajibola Basiru calling on the president to apply the same formular in Osun State against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governor Ademola Adeleke, there may be no end to this ‘Kabiyesi Syndrome’. Especially with a National Assembly whose leadership would only ask the president ‘how many times?’ the moment he asks them to jump!

Clearly, there is a travesty of democratic norms in the hasty declaration of an emergency in Rivers State. But the effect of this haste can only be remedied through the invocation of the power of dialogue as a democratic tool. Such dialogue must be across the partisan aisle. In addition, it remains within the powers of the president to whittle down the influence of those whose political interests may be behind the aggravation of the crisis in Rivers State. Besides, the brand of gunboat politics that necessitated the emergency in the first place must be discouraged. The people of Rivers state deserve better than a show of imperial presidential display and supremacist partisanship.

Emeka Ihedioha at 60
Former Imo State Governor, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha will be 60 on 24th March. That is this coming Monday. Two events are planned for the occasion. First, a colloquium chaired by former President Obasanjo with the theme, ‘Is Democracy failing in Africa?’ at which Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah will deliver the keynote speech. There will also be a dinner to round it up. I first met Emeka in Abuja in 1992 when he worked in media management under the tutelage of former PUNCH editor, Mr Chris Mammah. I was then a State House Correspondent for African Concord magazine. And we became so close that when he was chasing Ebere (now his wife of 28 years), we were always going to her house together.

Interestingly, apart from his three-year at the Villa as a Senior Special Assistant to then Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his seven-month stint in Imo State, Ihedioha has spent most of his working life with the legislature. During the defunct Third Republic, Emeka was Press Officer to then Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu and later, Chief Press Secretary to then Deputy Senate President, Chief Albert Legogie. Under the current dispensation, Emeka was also Special Assistant (Media) to the late Dr Chuba Okadigbo (as Senate President) in the 4th Senate. Then in 2003, he contested and was elected to the House of Representatives. During his 12 years in the House, Emeka was at various times, Chief Whip and Deputy Speaker and he made considerable impacts in these positions. Emeka and I started as friends, now we are family. I wish him a most wonderful birthday filled with joy and laughter.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) unequivocally condemn Mr. President’s hasty and unconstitutional declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State. This action blatantly violates the provisions of Part II, Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and constitutes an overreach of executive power.

The purported suspension or removal of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and the State House of Assembly is not only unlawful but a direct assault on democracy. 

It sets a dangerous precedent, eroding constitutional governance and threatening the autonomy of subnational governments. 

No democratic society can thrive where elected leaders are arbitrarily removed at the whims of the President. This reckless move should deeply concern every reasonable governor and citizen who believes in the rule of law.

We, therefore, call on Mr. President to revoke this unconstitutional declaration in compliance with Section 305(6) of the Constitution, which clearly outlines the legal process for declaring and sustaining a state of emergency.

The President, as the custodian of the nation’s executive powers, must exercise restraint, respect constitutional limits, and act in a manner that inspires national confidence rather than suspicion. 

Any decision that jeopardizes national security, economic stability, and democratic governance must be reconsidered.

 Nigeria has suffered the painful consequences of political overreach in the past, and we cannot afford to repeat such mistakes.

Beyond the political and legal implications, this unjustified state of emergency will have severe socio-economic repercussions on workers and the masses. It will:

 Disrupt economic activities, forcing businesses to shut down or scale back operations;

Lead to job losses, wage cuts, and economic hardship for thousands of workers in both the formal and informal sectors;

Create an atmosphere of uncertainty, discouraging investment and slowing economic growth in Rivers State and beyond;

Expose citizens to security risks, as history has shown that politically motivated states of emergency often escalate rather than resolve crises.

Accordingly, the Labour movement will not remain silent while the livelihoods of workers and the well-being of ordinary Nigerians are threatened by political machinations.

Given his storied background in political struggle, we urge Mr. President not to betray his democratic credentials by engaging in actions reminiscent of military-era authoritarianism.

 Leadership demands wisdom, restraint, and an unwavering commitment to democratic principles.

We demand the immediate reversal of this unconstitutional state of emergency in the interest of democracy, economic stability, and the welfare of Nigerian workers. Nigeria’s democracy must not be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

Comrade Joe Ajaero 

President, NLC.

 Engineer Festus Osifo

President, TUC.

News of the transition of Malam Kabir Dangogo hit me like a thunderbolt. Kabir was the man God used to throw me a lifeline when I was unceremoniously shown the door at the PUNCH newspapers on Christmas eve in 1998. My only baby at the time was just one year old and I had less than N500.00 (Five Hundred Naira) in my bank account. And that was because, like Yemi Olowolabi, Chief Press Secretary to the then Ondo State Gov. Olusegun Agagu, told me years after, I was a “Thank you” editor and not a “Ghana-Must-Go” editor! What Yemi meant was that all I savoured from the favours I dispenseed during my tenure as editor was the “thank you” people said to me! Of course, he was correct! Did I, then, regret the unsavoury turn of events when they came? I did not! God - and Kabir - did not let me!

Kabir told me to put forward a proposal for the consultancy job of printing Union Bank’s newsletter - The Stallion. He came down from his highbrow Ikoyi residence to my Ogba popular side with his entire family, bringing with him gifts that my family treasured for many, many years. My wife cooked, we all ate, and felt at home together. You would think we were members of the same family. For years, I handled the editing, production, and printing of Union Bank magazines and newsletters and lived comfortably on the proceeds. Kabir fought tooth-and-nail to keep the job for me, and the moment he left, I lost it!

Kabir retired over irreconcilable differences between him and the management (G.A.T Oboh was GMD at the time) over the policy of making everyone a banker. A consummate Public Relations professional, Kabir never wanted to be anything else. When he retired, he relocated from Lagos to Abuja, then Kaduna, and later to his home state of Katsina, living close to the perimetres of the Government House. We regularly rubbed minds on the country’s volatile security situation. At a point we lost touch and when we got back talking again, I was sad to hear that he had suffered a stroke; but the cherry news was that he was recovering very well.

The last time we spoke, he needed help for his son who was seeking employment with the NDLEA. After that, his lines went dead again. The next news was that of his demise, which I find too sad to describe; the same feelings I had when Mr. Kayode Awosanya of Mobil Producing Limited was killed by armed robbers/assassins during those giddy days of the June 12, 1993 crisis when the PUNCH newspapers were closed and proscribed again and again. During one of those closures, many staff members were taken off the payroll. For reasons I could not fathom, I was one of those affected. So, each day I stayed indoors devouring books, until one day when Moses Ebong, our Head of Cartoons, came with an artist’s impression of myself that he said Mobil Producing said he should deliver to me. In addition, he said Mr. Awosanya asked that I see him without delay. I went the next day and that was how this “Thank you” editor was handed the consultancy job of editing, producing, and printing Mobil Producing’s newsletter; which I did for many years! Sweet repose, continue to grant the soul of Mr. Kayode Awosanya, O Lord!      

While I was still ruminating on how to pen a tribute to Kabir, I stumbled on one written by Akaninyene Esiere and chose to adopt it because it captured the very essence of who Kabir was. Excerpts:  

“When he first proposed the idea of forming the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB), he ensured that I was included as a founding member. Mallam would not have thrived as a politician because he always called a spade a spade and never sugarcoated issues… Our paths crossed in the mid-1990s when I was a business reporter at Theweek magazine. He was the Principal Manager and Head of the Public Relations Department at Union Bank. I was one of the reporters whose business and finance articles he enjoyed reading. Dangogo came over to Union Bank from the Bank of the North, headquartered in Kano, where he was the Assistant General Manager in the same PR Department…

“Not long after he joined the bank, he became aware that the majority of the personnel in the department were not professional public relations practitioners. Apart from Gabriel Edem and Femi Akinmoladun, who was based in Abuja, others had backgrounds in different fields, including core banking. Dayo Sobowale, who had spent many years in the department, had been transferred to head the Ibadan Area Office before Dangogo assumed office. If you knew Kabir Dangogo a little, you would know that he was a thoroughbred public relations professional and wasn’t going to be able to speak the same language with those who were not familiar with the profession!

“Dangogo then obtained the approval of his bosses to recruit professionals into the department. I happened to be one of those people whose curriculum vitae he asked for. I cannot remember how many of us wrote the employment examination but I was surprised I was subsequently invited for interview… I knew I didn’t do well in the exams because the bank got the West African Examination Council to set it. And WAEC being WAEC decided to punish me for failing mathematics in my WAEC and brought so much mathematics again into this exam… I failed the exam but I still got the job. After I got the job, which I started on December 1, 1998, I asked Mallam Kabir Dangogo if I passed the exam. He told me I did not but that he asked the Human Resources Department to still invite me to the interview, believing that I would do well.

“I got the job because Kabir Dangogo believed in me and gave me a chance. In this same Nigeria where ethnicity and religion are the pillars and ladders of progress in life, a Fulani (was he Hausa?) Muslim from Katsina State saw competence in a person from a different religion, ethnicity, and state. Let me even shock you: three people were eventually recruited into the department through that exercise: Francis Barde, Cecile Agwu, and yours truly. That was Kabir Dangogo for you!

“To say that Kabir was a highly detribalized Nigerian is an understatement. Because he was a stickler for excellence, he was always looking for where to get the best quality service from. Most of the professionals or companies who rendered services to the department were not from the north. Here are some: Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi (of the Daily Times fame); Bola Bolawole (previously with The PUNCH); SO&U; Engr. Nsikak Essien; Dawn Functions; May Nzeribe, Taiwo Ola, to mention but a few. And most of his mentees were from the southern states; some of whom have written tributes in honour of their mentor.

“Kabir was a very well organized and meticulous person. He was principled; yes, annoyingly principled. He would hate to cut corners; to see people do so or behave anyhow. He had strong opinions about many things and how people and organizations behaved. He was not a tongue-in-cheek public relations expert and would call a spade by its name without thinking how you would feel. For him, being politically correct was politically incorrect. His dressings were top-notch; his office very inviting. His meals were special: he lectured us on why it was unhealthy to drink water while eating; he was a stickler for timeliness and very impatient with the notion of “African time”. He lived in an ideal state! All of this made Francis Barde to nickname him “Bature”, the Hausa word for an Englishman.

“Kabir Dangogo was a consummate and thoroughbred professional known across the length and breadth of the African continent as far as public relations was concerned… The Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) was his brainchild; and he was its founding President. He brought life to the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). He was regular at its monthly meetings and ensured that those of us in the department attended meetings on rota. He was the General Secretary of the Federation of African Public Relations Association (FAPRA).

“Kabir liked to holiday in London, print beautiful diaries in London, order for expensive (he called them top quality!) corporate gifts from London! Occasionally, he would invite us to his official residence on Thompson Street, Ikoyi. Union Bank had the third largest number of properties in Nigeria after the federal government and UACN!

“When he retired from the bank in 2005, Dangogo moved to Abuja and then Kaduna where he set up a school for the teaching of public relations… For whatever reasons, he left Kaduna for Katsina, his homestead, and started to fall ill. The sickness saw him in and out of hospital. By September last year, he had gone into a coma and needed to be moved back to Kaduna for better treatment. When in October 2024 Mr. Barde visited him, Mallam Kabir Dangogo could not recognize his right hand man of nearly three decades! He breathed his last on March 6, 2025 at the age of 76 years. He will be sorely missed!”

May Allah forgive Kabir his shortcomings and admit his soul into Jannatul Firdaus!