
OTHERS' VIEWS
No doubt, the political crisis that President Bola Tinubu caused by proclaiming a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspending Governor Siminalaye Fubara, his Deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the belligerent pro-Wike Rivers State House of Assembly has come to a head.
The state of emergency was preceded by the mind-game between Governor Fubara and the 27 legislators, who were reinstated into the State House of Assembly by a Supreme Court judgement and the Trans-Niger Pipeline that was blown up in Gokana, Rivers State.
Maybe Governor Fubara should not have demolished the State House of Assembly complex at a time that he was still finding his feet. If those elder statesmen who were goading him on indeed had any clout, they should have asked President Tinubu to rein in Nyesom Wike, his Minister of Federal Capital Territory.
Maybe he could have made haste more slowly and not presented his budget proposal to a four-man House of Assembly that lacked the mandatory one-third quorum. The reinstatement of Speaker Martins Amaewhule-led 27 legislators, whom everyone thought had decamped to All Progressives Congress, upset his applecart.
However, signs that things could get worse, as the President sided with his newfound political ally, the garrulous Wike, are in the report of a fire at the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited’s flow station at Cawthorne Channel.
This economic sabotage may have been carried out by individuals who may not be too happy with the seeming victory of garrulous Wike in the impasse that has become the lot of the beleaguered people of Rivers State.
The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, did not help matters by speculating that Governor Fubara probably instigated those attacks. That speculation is probably now resting after the governor publicly distanced himself from the violent act.
Governor Fubara, who had resolved to work with the reinstated legislators, invited them to a peace meeting. They rejected his overture but required him to present the 2025 budget bill to them within 48 hours. Twice, he wrote them, stating his intention to present the budget bill.
Twice, he reportedly received an embarrassing rebuff. Once, he was even locked out and prevented from entering the premises of the Assembly, which thereafter adjourned sine die without warning. Things got to stalemate proportions when the House invoked Section 48 of the Nigerian Constitution to impeach the governor.
Unconfirmed sources claim that he reached out to Wike, who was rumoured to have demanded that he hand over the local government structure and forgo a 2027 reelection bid. Maybe the quest to gain Rivers State, the ultimate political pawn, in 2027, possibly informed President Tinubu’s choice of the state of emergency.
Of course, the President can argue that his past interventions did not yield the desired outcome and that the state of emergency was a timely device that prevented the impeachment. If President Tinubu had asked Wike to rein in his men in the House of Assembly, maybe there would not be a state of emergency.
Astute statesmanship would have gotten a better result, and thus make the arrogant insinuation by Fagbemi that Governor Fubara was probably saved from the impeachment Sword of Damocles absolutely unnecessary.
It is not enough to say that the President consulted (some faceless stakeholders) before taking the state of emergency option. It would not have been necessary if he had leaned enough on Wike and his collaborators in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Those who argue that the President cannot proclaim a state of emergency are not aware of Section 305 of the Constitution, which merely requires the affirmation of a two-thirds majority of members of the two chambers of the National Assembly after they have received the gazetted proclamation, as prescribed by the Constitution.
But the Constitution is silent on the fate of the governor, his deputy and state legislators during a state of emergency, which Section 305(3) of the Constitution prescribes when the “Federation is at war; in danger of invasion…; there is a breakdown of public order and public safety…; clear and present danger…; any other public danger…; (and if) the President receives a request from… the governor of a state.”
Did Fagbemi recommend Section 45 that appropriates citizens’ fundamental human rights “in the interest of national defence, public safety, public order, public morality, or public health”, during a “period of emergency”, enabled by “proclamation of emergency declared by the President… under Section 305 of the Constitution”, to the President?
Or, Section 11(1), which says, “The National Assembly may make laws for the Federation or any part thereof, with respect to maintenance and securing of public safety and public order and providing, maintaining and securing of (assets)… as may be designated by the National Assembly as essential supplies (like crude and refined petroleum) and services.”
This is reflected in what appears to be the riot act read by the administrator, Vice Marshal Ibok-Ete Ibas, to anyone who may be minded to cause any form of economic, political or violent sabotage in Rivers State.
Or, Section 11(4,5), which says, “At any time when any House of Assembly of a State is unable to perform its functions… the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that 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… the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions;…
“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. (And)… a House of Assembly shall not be deemed to be unable to perform its functions so long as (it) can hold a meeting and transact business.”
Or Emergency Powers in Section 65 of Nigeria’s rested 1960 Constitution, which says, “Parliament may… make such laws for Nigeria or any part thereof with respect to matters not included in the Exclusive Legislative Lists as may appear to Parliament to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of maintaining or securing peace, order and good government during any period of emergency…
“(Where) ‘period of emergency’ means any period during which- (a) the Federation is at war; (b) there is… a resolution passed by (the)… Parliament declaring that a state of public emergency exists; or (c) there is… a resolution… supported by… not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House declaring that democratic institutions in Nigeria are threatened by subversion…”
Except for a “doctrine of necessity”, to secure Rivers State’s hydrocarbon resources, these do not enable the President to remove elected officials, though a state of emergency without control will be meaningless.
But the President should not have returned Nigeria to the military “Egypt” by appointing a military administrator, even if he is retired. That is untidy semiotics for a democracy wrested from the claws of the military.
President Tinubu, who swatted a gnat with a sledgehammer, must find a way to quickly return River State to the status quo. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s constitutional lawyers must lead the way to test this strange development in court.
As for winning Rivers State in 2027, “The people will decide,” to quote retired Commodore Olabode George, former governor of Ondo State.
[OPINION] Umahi Commends Soludo’s Excellent Performance as Tinubu Flags Off Phase 2B Construction of Access Road to Second Niger Bridge - Christian Aburime
AdminThe construction of Phase 2B of the access road to the Second Niger Bridge has officially commenced, marking a significant step in enhancing transportation infrastructure and regional connectivity in the Southeast. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, was represented at the groundbreaking ceremony by Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, while the Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, personally attended the event at Ogbunike (33 Nkwelle Junction) along the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
The Second Niger Bridge, inaugurated in 2023, has greatly improved travel between the Southeast and other parts of the country, but its full benefits have been hindered by incomplete access roads. The newly launched Phase 2B construction aims to address this by delivering a 17.5km dual carriageway with seven bridges and modern infrastructure, including security cameras. The road will stretch from the Umunya/Ogbunike axis of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, passing through the Old Enugu Road Interchange, Ogidi, Nkpor-Umuoji Road Interchange, to the Asaba-Igbuzor Road Interchange and Valley Bridge.
The ceremony began with Igwe Awkuzu, the closest traditional ruler to the venue, offering prayers over the kola nut, invoking blessings for the successful execution of the project.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi commended Governor Soludo for his exceptional leadership and transformative achievements in multiple sectors. He praised Soludo’s commitment to road infrastructure, pointing out that Anambra currently has 18 ongoing federal road projects, including the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, which has been split between MTN and another company for effective execution.
Beyond road projects, Umahi acknowledged Soludo’s accomplishments in security, education, healthcare, and fiscal management, emphasizing his role in constructing a befitting Anambra Government House. He described Soludo as a strong ally of President Tinubu, stating that their partnership has been instrumental in advancing development in Anambra and the Southeast.
Umahi assured that payments for the project would be tied to work progress, with 30 percent of the contract sum already disbursed. He urged local communities along the route to support the project and avoid disruptions. He also reiterated President Tinubu’s commitment to the Southeast, citing key appointments such as the Chief of Naval Staff and the Minister of Works as proof of the administration’s dedication to the region.
Governor Soludo, in his address, said the Second Niger Bridge would remain incomplete until the entire 35km access road was fully constructed. While acknowledging previous setbacks, he thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and expressed optimism that, with Umahi as Minister of Works, the project would be completed as planned. He urged community leaders, PGs, and traditional rulers to ensure that local youths do not obstruct construction activities, emphasizing that cooperation is essential for a smooth execution process.
Governor Soludo further highlighted the importance of sustained federal-state collaboration in infrastructure development, revealing that Anambra had already invested over N150 billion in federal roads. He stressed that the dualization of key roads was critical to preventing future congestion and ensuring long-term economic growth in the region.
The event also carried political undertones, as Hon. Chinwe Gwacgam, representing Oyi and Ayamelum Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, called on the federal government to support Soludo’s re-election in 2025, arguing that his continued leadership would guarantee sustained development in Anambra. He further suggested that in 2027, Soludo would reciprocate the gesture, hinting at broader political realignments.
The contractor, CGC Nigeria Limited, represented by General Manager Gius Cheng, pledged to complete the project on schedule and in line with the highest quality standards.
With construction now officially underway, the initiative is set to transform interstate transportation, ease traffic congestion, and boost economic activities across Anambra and Delta states. The project reinforces the federal government’s commitment to infrastructure development and the economic integration of the Southeast with the rest of Nigeria.
As part of its golden jubilee, the University of Calabar is said to have held a special convocation ceremony on Saturday, 22 March, 2025 where it handed out honours to all manner of persons. The Chancellor of the University is Aminu Ado Bayero, the deposed Emir of Kano. Present at that event also were Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Nigeria’s most prolific political litigant; as well as Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, a senior Justice of the Supreme Court who delivered the leading decision in the recent judgment of that court concerning the withholding of the federal allocations of the Rivers State Government.
Images of the events in Calabar putting these major actors in contemporary politics of the Nigerian judiciary in close propinquity with one another have gone viral. In response, Festus Akande, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Supreme Court issued a public statement on Monday, 24 March, 2025, in which he felt compelled to claim that Emmanuel Agim attended the convocation “as an esteemed honouree and an alumnus of the institution, whom the Governing Council had found worthy to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Law (Doctor Honoris Causa). He was recognized for his significant contributions to the legal profession; which is a reflection of his commitment to justice, integrity, and the rule of law, serving as a model for aspiring legal professionals and students alike.”
Mr. Akande’s statement further claimed that “Emmanuel Agim’s participation at the ceremony was independent and not as an official representative of any government ministry or department, let alone accompanying any serving or retired government official”, before asserting that “any insinuation to the contrary is not only inaccurate but undermines the judicial independence that is crucial to our democracy.”
These claims are made in the name of the Supreme Court and in pursuit of high sounding goals of judicial independence and democracy.
The Supreme Court is a public institution embodying the highest judicial authority in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Judicial independence is a high constitutional principle ordained for the protection of judicial authority as a public trust. It is not a self-serving shibboleth.
In terms of Nigeria’s constitution, the source of democratic legitimacy resides in the people alone.
To leave Festus Akande’s claims uncontested or without a response, therefore, is to diminish the high authority of the Supreme Court, the service of the distinguished men and women who have laboured to give it its historically high standing in the public imagination until recently, and the high principles of judicial independence and democracy instituted for the protection of the peoples of Nigeria.
This statement is issued out of concern to stem the heedless hemorrhaging of the rarefied authority of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In this spirit, it is essential to set the records straight, even if ever so briefly.
The Applicable Standards
The fact that Festus Akande considered it essential to issue the statement itself shows what something was wrong with that event in Calabar. In case he needs reminding, Lord Chief Justice Hewart laid down the applicable standard for judging judicial impartiality and independence in 1923 in R. v Sussex Justices, Ex Parte McCarthy, (1923) All ER 233, to the effect that: “Nothing is to be done which creates even a suspicion that there has been an improper interference with the course of justice.”
That event in Calabar was rich with pictures to support suspicions of improper interference with the cause of justice.
Rule 2.8 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in Nigeria (2016) is very clear: “A Judge shall avoid developing excessively close relationship with frequent litigants – such as government ministers or their officials, municipal officials, police prosecutors in any Court where the Judge often sits, if such relationship could reasonably create an appearance of partiality.”
In Buhari vs. Independent National Electoral Commission & Ors (2008) LPELR-814(SC) at PP.145-146, Justice Niki Tobi of the Supreme Court admonished judges to “maintain a very big distance from politics and politicians” warning that:
“….the two professions do not meet and will never meet at all in our democracy in the discharge of their functions…. Their waters never meet in the same way Rivers Niger and Benue meet at the confluence near Lokoja. If they meet, the victim will be democracy most of the time, and that will be bad for sovereign Nigeria.”
In his memoirs, Faces, Cases and Places, published in 1983,(p.78), former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Atanda Fatayi Williams, said:
“In Nigeria, familiarity does not breed contempt. It breeds obligation. As a result, people with whom you are friendly expect you to bend the rules to suit their requirements. It pays in the end for a judge, even at the risk of being accused of being a snob or of haughtiness, to be somewhat aloof, not only from members of the Executive, but also from political powerbrokers.”
Neither Festus Akande not, indeed, Justice Emmanuel Agim as a Justice of the Supreme Court can pretend to be unaware that Nyesom Wike is the most prolific current political litigator in Nigeria. To justify public fraternizing with him by a Supreme Court Justice is to licensing the accessorizing of judicial officers for political purposes.
The Context: Nyesom Wike & Emmanuel Akomaye Agim
On the last day of February 2025, the Supreme Court delivered judgment in the consolidated appeals in SC/CV/1174A/2024 et al, Rivers State House of Assembly & Anor vs. The Government of Rivers State & 9 Ors. The case sought orders of the court to, among other things, require the Central Bank of Nigeria to withhold the federal allocations of the Government of Rivers State until the passage of a budget by a faction of the State House of Assembly. At the time, the question of the right of that faction of the State House of Assembly to function as such was the subject of litigation before lowers courts in FHC/PHC/CS/2024 Oko-Jumbo & 2 Ors vs. Martin Amaewhule & Ors (pending in the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt since April 2024).
The case seeking to withhold the federal allocations of Rivers State was un-related to this appeal. Delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court on 28 February, Emmanuel Akomaye Agim framed two issues for determination neither of which had anything to do with then issues pending before the Federal High Court. Yet, without an appeal from that case before it, the court purported to determine the issues then pending before the Federal High Court on the question of the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the platform on which they were elected (the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Congress, APC). Even though the issue of the defection of the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly did not arise in the appeal, the Supreme Court raised it by itself and shockingly decided a case that was still pending at the High Court.
This course of action has no precedent in Nigeria’s judicial history. It is the first in the history of Nigeria that the Supreme Court will take over a case that is pending in the Federal High Court. Unsurprisingly, counsel to the 27 legislators promptly applied to the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt asking it to dismiss the case on the ground that it has become academic on the basis that the Supreme Court has decided the matter while it was still at the Federal High Court. The Port Harcourt judicial division of the Federal High Court will render its judgment on this application on 20 April, 2025.
The Context: Nyesom Wike and Aminu Ado Bayero
On 14 March, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja in Appeal No., CA/KN/27/M/2025, Alhaji Aliyu Babba Dan Sarki Dawaki Babba vs. Kano State House of Assembly & 7 Ors, granted a “Mandatory Injunction” (not a stay of execution) arresting the enforcement of the judgment of the same Court of Appeal on 10 January 2025 in Appeal No. CA/KN/126/2024, Kano State House of Assembly & Anor vs. Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan Agundi & Ors. The earlier judgment of the Court was delivered by a panel led by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, a Justice of Appeal since 22 June, 2018. The latter decision arresting that judgment was given by a panel led by Justice Okon Abang, a Justice of the Court of Appeal since 20 September 2023. Other members of the latter panel were Justice Eberechi Suzette Nyesom-Wike (Justice of the Court of Appeal since 10 July 2024) and Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi (Justice of the Court of Appeal since 10 July 2024). This panel of the Court of Appeal included the wife of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
In terms of seniority in the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, Justice Okon Abang is no. 6 out of 10; Justice Nyesom-Wike is No. 9; and Justice Oyewumi is the last. It is unprecedented for a panel this junior to be constituted to sit upon a decision of a much more senior panel of the Court of Appeal. It is equally notable that the President of the Court of Appeal has unilaterally moved this case to Abuja from Kano.
The subject matter of this appeal is a fundamental rights claim by a disaffected king-maker in respect of the stool of the Kano Emirate from which Aminu Ado Bayero was deposed. The Court of Appeal in Kano had denied that claim, holding that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction over essentially chieftaincy matters.
Following this decision, Aminu Ado Bayero, who is not a named party in the case, notified the security services in Kano of his intention to hold an Eid-El-Fitr Durbar at the end of the holy month of Ramadhan. I am reliably informed by sources within the Court of Appeal of plans by some people to procure an order of the same Court of Appeal on Tuesday, 25 March 2025 to enjoin the security authorities in Kano to ensure co-operation with and protection for the Durbar proposed by Aminu Ado Bayero.
Meanwhile, on Monday, 24 March 2025, the Supreme Court entered an appeal against the ruling of the Okon Abang-led Court of Appeal panel as Appeal No SC/CV/279/2025. This should ordinarily preclude the Court of Appeal from further engagement with the subject matter but these are no ordinary times and no one can say what could happen
The Optics
Aminu Ado Bayero, the Chancellor who conferred the honorary degree on the Minister of the FCT, is seeking to claim benefit of a curious, incongruous and improbable order of the Court of Appeal panel which included the wife of the Minister. As I write, the panel has yet to release the text of the reasoning on which it issued its orders.
Justice Emmanuel Agim is the author of a curious, incongruous, and inexplicably unprecedented decision of the Supreme Court in favour of satraps of the same Minister in the political contest in Rivers State.
This context makes the optics of that particular occasion in Calabar an awful advertisement for high subversion of the values of judicial independence and democracy, around whose flags Festus Akande sought to wrap his defense of the indefensible. Even worse, these facts create a credible perception of network transaction in judicial orders.
The 50th anniversary convocation of a university is not an emergency event. The parties who met in Calabar had to have had notice of that event long before the dates of the judgments or rulings in the cases in which their interests interlocked. There was ample time, if they desired, to make alternative arrangements. Their decision to proceed in the manner they did without any regard to the optics or possible damage to the standing of the judicial institutions serves neither judicial independence nor democracy. Instead, it showcases a peculiar brand of hubris and impunity at the desecration of those high constitutional values.
Odinkalu is a lawyer and a teacher. He can be reached at odinkalu@tufts.edu
[OPINION] State of Emergency in Rivers State: Collateral Damage and Remediation - Magnus Onyibe
AdminWhile some Rivers State indigenes were agonizing over the Supreme Court’s decision barring the federal government from releasing the state’s monthly financial allocation—following the imposition of emergency rule by President Tinubu on March 18—the funds have now been released, ensuring that workers’ salaries will be paid at the end of the month. However, not all Nigerians are pleased.
Among the most aggrieved are members of the political class, who view the emergency rule in Rivers State as a suspension of democracy. This move disrupts the established democratic process and the principles of due process that govern public administration.
Following the swearing-in of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) as the sole administrator of Rivers State—replacing Governor Siminalayi Fubara—public administration in the state has effectively been relocated to Aso Rock, the presidential seat of government in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Governance is now dictated by directives from Abuja rather than by an elected governor who should be accountable to the people of Rivers State.
The National Assembly (NASS), in its endorsement of the emergency proclamation, has also assumed oversight of the Rivers State House of Assembly. This means that the sole administrator operates under directives from Abuja, in contrast to an elected governor who is expected to report to his constituents—the people of Rivers State—who had chosen their political leaders through democratic means. But with state assembly suspended how is the NASS going to have oversight function over it while on suspension?
By democratic principles, elected representatives of the people of Rivers State should only be removed under three conditions:
1. A recall process initiated by the electorate.
2.Impeachment through constitutional means.
3. Non-re-election at the expiration of their tenure.
By bypassing these democratic processes and instead using political crises as justification for suspending democracy, the people of Rivers State have been effectively disenfranchised, stripped of their civic rights for the six-month duration of the emergency rule.
Political and Socioeconomic Consequences
The removal of the governor, deputy governor, and elected state assembly members has inflicted significant damage, not just on the political landscape but also on the socioeconomic stability of Rivers State.
Beyond this direct impact, the decision to impose emergency rule has tarnished Nigeria’s reputation as a democracy. President Tinubu, known for his advocacy of democratic governance, now faces criticism that this action contradicts his democratic credentials.
This decision also threatens to erase the democratic progress Nigeria has made since 1999. The country has maintained an unbroken democratic governance structure for nearly 25 years, marking a significant milestone in its post-independence political development. However, the handling of Rivers State’s political crisis risks undermining these gains.
Elder statesmen and political leaders—both within and beyond Rivers State—have raised concerns about the dangerous precedent being set. Since the 1966 and 1967 military coups, Nigeria has experienced intermittent periods of military and civilian rule. However, since the return to democracy in 1999, governance has been based on the rule of law and due process.
With Nigeria set to mark 25 years of uninterrupted democracy on May 29, the imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State, coupled with the opaque manner in which the National Assembly ratified it, has diminished the country’s democratic standing.
The Justification and Its Pitfalls
President Tinubu has justified the move by citing the need to prevent potential violence and safeguard vital oil and gas installations in Rivers State and the Niger Delta. However, as the saying goes, “The road to disaster is paved with good intentions.”
Ironically, following the installation of a retired military officer as Rivers State’s sole administrator, reports emerged that the Boki gas facility was set ablaze by militants last Sunday. This incident raises questions about whether the emergency rule has actually enhanced security or exacerbated tensions.
Despite the President’s defense of his actions, opposition leaders argue that the move was hasty and extreme. Attorney General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi has attempted to justify the decision by referencing Section 305(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which grants the president authority to declare a state of emergency. However, this constitutional provision does not explicitly authorize the suspension of elected officials, as has been done in Rivers State.
Fagbemi’s legal interpretation, which seemingly guided the President’s decision, is now being challenged as a potential Achilles’ heel for the administration. Critics argue that while concerns about security threats are valid, suspending a democratically elected government is a disproportionate and legally questionable response.
Furthermore, the Attorney General’s statement that similar measures could be applied to other states facing political crises has raised alarm. This stance risks encouraging political actors to deliberately incite crises in their states, knowing that it could justify federal intervention and the suspension of democratic governance.
Would this policy not lead to a proliferation of political violence across Nigeria, driven by opposition figures who see it as a means to destabilize elected governments? If a breakdown of law and order becomes a pretext for suspending democracy, then the nation’s democratic future is at stake.
The imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State has set off a chain of political, legal, and economic consequences that could have long-term ramifications for Nigeria’s democracy. If left unaddressed, this decision may not only damage the country’s democratic reputation but also embolden political actors to exploit crisis situations for their own advantage.
To restore confidence in the democratic process, President Tinubu may need to reconsider the duration and scope of the emergency rule, ensuring that Rivers State’s governance is returned to its elected representatives as soon as possible to douse the rising tension even as the emergency remains in effect as former president Goodluck Jonathan did in three northern states. Failure to do so could make this episode a defining crisis of his administration, overshadowing his broader governance agenda.
If causing mayhem in a state can be legitimately cited as justification for a state of emergency proclamation by President Tinubu in Rivers State, and if this becomes the valid condition and gold standard for suspending democratically elected state government officials, as Attorney General Fagbemi alluded to in his press briefing, would it not become a preferred strategy for politicians to destabilize their opponents by fomenting or triggering violence to create an opportunity for the suspension of democracy in a state?
The parable of the jealous mother of a dead baby in the holy bible (1 Kings 3:16-28) who switched her lifeless child for a living one and accepted the arbiter’s solution to divide the baby, knowing that the child was not hers, is instructive. The point here is that electoral losers, particularly in gubernatorial contests, may be incentivized to incite trouble that triggers violence, leading to a declaration of a state of emergency and effectively denying the rightful winner the benefits of their victory.
If violence becomes a precondition for declaring a state of emergency, politicians may find it easier and cheaper to hire thugs to cause unrest and threaten national assets rather than pursuing legal battles, which involve hiring expensive legal teams, often composed of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), to defend or challenge mandates in court.
Even the legal recourse of challenging election outcomes in court has become a major flaw in Nigeria’s democracy, as the phrase “you can go to court” has become a mocking refrain used by some politicians who rely on pliable judicial officers to secure favorable rulings.
It may be recalled that the uncontrollable violence in the Western Region during the First Republic—infamously known as Wetie, when supporters of Ladoke Akintola and Obafemi Awolowo engaged in violent clashes—was the justification for the state of emergency declared by then-Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. It is because of this troubling historical precedent that the current declaration of emergency in Rivers State is causing unease, not just among politicians in the state but nationwide.
Given this context, there is an urgent need to address concerns and provide legally and constitutionally sound justifications for the seemingly extreme action. There must also be transparency in explaining how and why the legislative branch so swiftly ratified the executive’s decision, as the process has been shrouded in speculation and accusations of financial inducements—allegations that have been denied.
In the United States, from where Nigeria adopted the presidential system, government shutdowns due to budget disagreements often drag on until the last minute, with intense negotiations before lawmakers approve a resolution. Unfortunately, such extensive deliberation and scrutiny were absent when Nigerian lawmakers were expected to exercise their oversight function by ratifying the president’s decision within two (2) days if in session or ten (10) days if on recess. Critics have alleged that senators and House members betrayed their constituents for pecuniary benefits. If true, this is how democracies die—a point highlighted by Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt in their book How Democracies Die, which chronicles how seemingly minor democratic violations, when accumulated, can erode democracy itself.
In the U.S. Senate, figures like Joe Manchin of West Virginia have been known for filibustering. In the 1950s, Oregon Senator Wayne Morse used the filibuster to educate the public on critical national issues. Why did we not witness similar democratic engagement in this case—where lawmakers could have used the opportunity to enlighten Nigerians on Section 305, Subsection 1 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the president to declare a state of emergency? Furthermore, why did this provision seemingly allow for the suspension of elected executive and legislative officials while sparing the judiciary?
When Senator Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State and House of Representatives member Obi Aguocha from Ikwuano/Umuahia, Abia State, demanded more transparency from both legislative chambers, they were overruled. Instead of validating the president’s decision in an open and convincing manner, the opaque process used to ratify the action has reinforced public suspicion that the emergency rule in Rivers State was a calculated move to destabilize the state and make it vulnerable for takeover by the ruling party at the center, which is in opposition in the state. Whether this is true or false, the ruling party missed an opportunity to correct public perception by ensuring transparency in the validation process.
Without a doubt, this negative perception has become an unnecessary burden for the ruling party and may turn into a political liability in the 2027 elections. To remedy the situation a number of steps need to be taken to ensure that the angst do not translate into resentment towards the ruling party such that she may be imperiled during elections in a zone that it needs to win to guarrantee re-election. Even President Tinubu’s allies, notably Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, have raised concerns.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has also expressed his disapproval of the emergency rule. Likewise, governors from the South-South zone and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as well as various civil society organizations that have issued statements condemning the decision.
As this controversy unfolds, it is not just Nigerians who are watching but also the international community, with foreign envoys reporting back to their respective governments.
In a previous article published on the day the emergency rule was to be ratified, I proposed a way for the government to navigate this contentious issue. While some of my recommendations such as the setting up of emminent persons group comprising of members of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government were adopted, my suggestion to limit the emergency rule to one month was not implemented. But it is not too late to review the proclamation since it is barely two (2)weeks in implementation.
One good thing about the proclamation is that it has enabled the federal government to continue funding Rivers state government without breaching the Supreme Court judgement barring the FGN from releasing the monthly financial allocation from the federation account to Rivers state.
But the appointment of a retired military officer as sole administrator in place of elected representatives in Rivers State is as disappointing to Nigerians as the controversial conduct of the 2023 general elections, where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to process and announce results using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), thereby failing the integrity test. Additionally, the announcement of presidential election results at odd hours further tainted the credibility of the process.
In the past 22 months, the Tinubu administration has worked to move past these controversies by implementing significant socioeconomic reforms. Though initially painful, as they worsened the cost-of-living crisis and plunged many Nigerians into hardship, these reforms—including the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to democratize university education, improvements in energy security through the operationalization of Dangote Refinery, and the proposed establishment of CreditCorp to expand consumer credit—have begun to yield positive economic signs.
For example, the price of petrol has dropped from ₦1,300 per liter to ₦880, and the naira, which had depreciated to ₦1,900 per dollar, is now trading between ₦1,500 and ₦1,600. Surveys by major media organizations also indicate a gradual decline in food prices.
Although the prices of goods have not dropped to the level where a critical mass of Nigerians will be eased of the hardship currently crushing them, sooner than later, with consistency in lossening the tight grip on money by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), the cost of living crisis will ebb to the relief of government and citizens alike.
However, as the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch. Would President Tinubu allow the mistake of declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State to be the blight that overshadows his administration’s accomplishments—especially considering his reputation as a staunch advocate of democracy?
The late American comedian Richard Pryor once said:
“I believe in the spirit of living. It’s just good to be alive. If you’re alive, then you always have the potential to change things.”
President Tinubu is both politically and physically alive, meaning he has the power to change course if it becomes clear that his earlier decision was flawed.
He has demonstrated this ability before—such as when he increased the direct cash transfer funds for the poor after complaints that the initial amount was insufficient. There have been several other instances where he reversed decisions, a trait that, in leadership, is often seen as a strength rather than a weakness.
If he amends his stance by reducing the suspension period to, at most, three (3) months, he may find a more acceptable balance between maintaining security and upholding democratic principles.
One is optimistic that this crisis would soon pass away as president Tinubu is known not to shy away from doing the right thing.
Most importantly the omnibus nature of article 305 in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria, FGN which empowers the president to proclaim a state of emergency in Nigeria is too unwieldy to lend itself to being defined as an effective tool for good governance in an ideal democratic setting. Hence prime minister Tafawa Balewa and president Olusegun Obasanjo, during their tenure read, interpreted and implemented it differently from the manner that president Goodluck Jonathan did during his watch.
It is because it is nebulous that President Tinubu has currently been advised to emulate the former heads of state Balewa and Obasanjo in his recent proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers state than the latter, President Jonathan’s approach which aligns more with democratic norms.
Thus, owing to its bogus nature section 305 of the constitution of the FGN has by ommission or commission become a lightening rod and possibly a hammer for nailing the coffin of democracy in Nigeria.
Put succinctly, the ability and flexibilty to make article 305 of the 1999 constitution of the FGN too amenable to multiple interpretations is responsible for the constitutional crisis that has enveloped the political atmosphere in Nigeria. As such, to avoid a similar complexity of multiple interpretations which is the drawback in relying on the judiciary to resolve issues, it is the gordian knot that has to be untied by our law makers during the next review of the constitution of the FGN by being very specific about the begining and end of that law.
Magnus Onyibe, an entrepreneur, public policy analyst, author, democracy advocate, development strategist, alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, and a former commissioner in the Delta State government.
Being a politician in itself is a major nightmare. But perhaps one of the major occupational hazards of a politician is taking hard decisions on behalf of the people even when he is misunderstood by the very society he serves. This is why politics is not for the faint-hearted but for risk takers who promise miracles without knowing how the miracle will come about. This is why governance which includes defending fortune-seekers who do not know what is in their best interest can be very challenging.
What is not always apparent to the governed however is that government is not an independent arbiter but a tool in the hands of those who with their control of a disproportionate share of the national resources, are out to preside over an empire of slaves? It is ironic that it is this same people that often mobilise those bent on pulling down government.
I sympathise with President Tinubu who before last week anti-government conspiracy he survived had been going through stress and strain over his government’s harsh economic policies. Last week’s mass mobilisation of critical segment of Nigerians including those whose battle he was fighting against by his many political foes must have been very distressing.
For taking a bold decision to confront those who have for two years held people of Rivers hostage, his government was painted a Leviathan, a huge fearful sea monster that must be brought down. And leading the war with a battle cry of “the democracy we fought for” are fake democrats without democratic ethos. We have PDP sore losers like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi who, two years after losing an election won round and square by their opponents, are yet to congratulate the victor.
Others include Pat Utomi who has professed that the president’s interference to end the siege on Rivers by those benefiting from their misery sounded the death knell of democracy in Nigeria. There is Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir El-Rufai, former APC insiders who have decided to start urinating inside from outside. We have the Nigerian Bar Association that one had thought would be more introspective but has chosen to declare the president a ‘totalitarian’ based on its jaundiced judgment.
And finally anchoring the activities of the president’s political foes was Fubara’s media meddlers who swear in the name of patriotism which as has been shown can be “the last refuge of the scoundrels”. (Samuel Johnson 1775).
Even with his celebrated versatility and political brinkmanship, President Tinubu must have felt lonely last week with all round denunciation and condemnation of his bold move to stop the drift in Rivers. Not even from Rivers came any form of relief as a segment of the elders, first identified by Saro Wiwa, an Ogoni hero as ‘vultures’ who feed on the blood of their people, Rivers women for Fubara, restive jobless Rivers youths forgotten as successive governors became obsessed with infrastructural development since 1999, threatening Ijaw youths, meddling politicians from outside Rivers, all taking up arms against the government and insisting Rivers has been short-changed by the president’s action. Of course, except for the president who is always one step ahead of his political opponents, no one knew what was going to happen in view of tension that took over the country until relief came from the National Assembly after two days that was like an eternity.
And how did it start?
For close to two years, Fubara the democratically elected governor of Rivers was at war with his state lawmakers said to be loyal to his godfather Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister. Unable to understand that compromise is the highest badge of honour in a democracy where the ruler rules while others dictate the tune, he reneged on the truce he reached with his other arm of his government in a meeting presided over by the president. He opted to rule with an assembly of three people. And of the other 27 elected lawmakers, he had said:
“They are not existing; these are people eating in my house, I helped to pay their children school fees when I was not even a governor, I accepted the accord to give them a floating, their existence is me allowing them to exist”.
The February 28, Supreme Court judgment indicted the governor for demolishing the state House of Assembly to prevent his impeachment, for disobeying Abuja High Court judgment, Abuja appeal court judgment that declared presentation of budget to three people unconstitutional and mandated him to present the budget to the 27 member House of Assembly recognized by the Supreme Court after being made redundant for close to two years. While the governor embarked on what most people saw as his game of ostrich playing, the House slammed him with notice of impeachment.
The president after lamenting that he “made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis, the president echoing aspects of the Supreme Court’s decisions, accusing the governor of frantically working to collapse the state’s legislature said,
“In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the governor and deputy governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.”
Then the war mongers went to town. PDP that watched the Rivers crisis drift for two years claimed the president action was “an attempt to suspend the 1999 Constitution and overturn a democratic government”. Pat Utomi, a chieftain of Labour Party said “the act signals the end of democracy in Nigeria; Rotimi Amaechi alleged it “points to a brazen attempt at power grab in the state by force”. The respected human rights lawyer Clement Nwankwo blamed the National Assembly.
Joining the hordes of partisans was the chairman of Nigerian Bar Association who should know better but was more reckless. He claimed the situation in Rivers “has not called for state of emergency”. Since he is not the president or member of the National Assembly, he was not in the position to make such assertion.
But without restraint, the NBA chairman declared “At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our constitution and rape of our democracy.
“Mr. President must be made to know and understand in unmistakable terms that this illegality cannot stand”. He concluded by “asking politicians across Nigeria to speak up and rise against the country’s descent into totalitarianism.”
Section 305 of the Constitution which vests the president with the power to declare a state of emergency, also gives him power of discretion. He could adopt any strategy he deems fit to bring sanity to a troubled area. The NBA chairman deliberately ignored that fact.
In any case, if the NBA chairman believes the president has committed an infraction, the best place to go is the court where we have competent and discerning judges who can make a distinction between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law; i.e. the underlying aim purpose and intended ethical considerations behind legal statutes as opposed to its literal wordings”.
Then there are the Fubara media meddlers. They hailed him the morning after masterminding the bombing of Rivers state House of Assembly as he matched with thugs on the street of Port Harcourt.
They lionized him and encouraged him to abandon a truce he reached with the warring members of his state assembly supervised by the president.
When the Abuja High Court and Abuja Appeal court ruled it was an aberration to present the state budget before three people, they asked tongue in cheek, ‘why should his opponents approach the Abuja Court?’
And when on February 28, the Supreme Court ruled there has been no government in Rivers since he removed one leg of a tripod that sustains democratic government, the Supreme Court was disparaged.
When the president finally declared state of emergency, Fubara media meddlers who angrily said anyone who disagrees with their views must be ‘stupid’ said the president committed impeachable offence and must be impeached. They tried to blackmail the National Assembly not to endorse the president’s action while they arrogantly advised the administrator nominee to reject the president’s appointment.
Senator Magnus Abe, a stakeholder in Rivers who appeared on their platform and pleaded they tone down the rhetoric and lower the temperature in the interest of Rivers State people who just want to reconcile their difference and live in peace was bullied.
Fubara’s media meddlers want to continue the war. They claim they are more patriotic than Nigeria’s elected president, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court, all of which they freely bullied in the last two years.
What the Leviathan Nigeria should worry about is not Tinubu’s government but Fubara’s media meddlers.
Affirmative Action refers to proactive measures taken by organisations or governments to ensure equal opportunity for historically marginalised groups. It aims to address past and present discrimination by implementing policies that promote diversity and inclusion… - The Oxford Review
The saying: “What a man can do, a woman can do better,” may be considered a cliché. But Namibia is set to prove doubters wrong, at least as far as gender mainstreaming is concerned.
Namibia’s newly elected President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah was sworn in as the country’s first female president on Friday 22nd March 2025, with fellow women Lucia Witbooi as Vice President and Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as Speaker of the National Assembly - to complete the female triumvirate that will pilot the affairs of state in a largely patriarchal African continent.
Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is the first woman to hold the position of the third most powerful citizen in Namibia, next to President Nandi-Ndaitwah and her deputy, Witbooi, the second woman to serve as the country’s vice President.
As if this were not enough, Nandi-Ndaitwah’s 14-member cabinet has eight women.
The unprecedented gender shift followed the death of President Hage Geingob, whom Nandi-Ndaitwah succeeded on 24th February 2025.
A popular gender activist herself, Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, however, believes that ability is critical to effective performance in leadership positions.
“As women, we should not ask to be elected to positions of responsibility because we are women, but because we are capable members of our societies to hold those positions,” she affirmed.
Addressing parliament after her inauguration, she reminded the MPs that while they might have been “elected on the tickets of our respective political parties, we have assumed the responsibility to represent all Namibian people without any discrimination.”
“The task facing me as the fifth president of the Republic of Namibia is to preserve the gains of our independence on all fronts and to ensure that the unfinished agenda of economic and social advancement of our people is carried forward with vigour and determination to bring about shared, balanced prosperity for all,” the new president pledged.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah's major decisions since her inauguration include reducing the Cabinet size from 21 to 14 and restructuring government ministries and agencies.
Erica Shafudah is named Minister of Finance, Lucia Iipumbu, Minister of Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security, and Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, International Relations. The three are women.
Elijah Ngurare is the new Prime Minister, while Natangwe Ithete, also a man, will serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mines and Energy.
Under the new government structure, the oil and gas sectors are now under the Office of the President, and the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation will handle the trade portfolio, to strengthen economic diplomacy.
Describing poverty eradication as cross-cutting, President Nandi-Ndaitwah, daughter of a clergyman, directed all government ministries to implement programmes to support socio-economic development.
Responsibilities for disabled persons and marginalised groups now fall under the Office of the vice-President and Labour Relations are to be handled by the Justice Ministry and a yet-to-be-named public entity will manage government properties and assets.
Social Grants will move to the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, while the Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry is to merge with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform.
The Education Ministry will also oversee Arts, Sport, and Culture, and the Ministry of Industrialisation is combined with the Ministry of Mines and Energy to boost industrial growth, especially in mining.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah, nicknamed “NNN,” an MP since Namibia’s independence in 1990, became politically active at age 14. She became the leader of the Youth Wing of the Southwest Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), which led the struggle for the country's liberation from apartheid South Africa.
Nandi-Ndaitwal was Namibia’s National Women's Organisation (NANAWO) president from 1991 to 1994 and became SWAPO President in 2024.
In 1973, she was forced into political exile in neighbouring Zambia and proceeded to then-Soviet Union and later the United Kingdom, to continue her education in public administration and management.
In 1988, Nandi-Ndaitwah obtained a post-graduate diploma in International Relations from Keele University, UK, and a master's degree in diplomatic studies from the same University.
She became Namibia’s third vice-President under President Nangolo Mbumba from 2024 to 2025 after serving as Deputy Prime Minister from 2015 to 2024 and Minister of Foreign Affairs, later renamed International Relations and Cooperation Ministry from 2012 to 2015, and Minister of Environment and Tourism from 2010 to 2012.
Nandi-Ndaitwah served as Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation from 1990 to 1996, later Director-General of Women's Affairs in the Office of the President, until 2000 when she was promoted to Minister of Women’s Affairs and Child Welfare.
She was SWAPO’s Deputy Representative in Zambia, from 1976 to 1978, Chief Representative in Zambia from 1978 to 1980, and from 1980 to 1986, the SWAPO Chief Representative in East Africa, based in the Zambian capital, Dar es Salaam.
In 2017, Nandi-Ndaitwah was elected SWAPO’s vice-president, the first woman in that capacity.
Under President Geingob, Nandi-Ndaitwah was Deputy Prime Minister from March 2015, and she combined that role with that of the International Relations and Cooperation portfolio and SWAPO’s Secretary for Information and Mobilisation, making her the party’s main spokesperson.
In March 2023, President Geingob named her, SWAPO's presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general elections.
On 3 December 2024, Nandi-Ndaitwah was officially declared the President-elect with 58.7% of the vote, defeating two political rivals Panduleni Itula and McHenry Venaani.
She is Africa’s fourth female President following in the footsteps of Liberia’s Nobel Laureate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Joyce Banda of Malawi and Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania.
Her victory extends SWAPO’s 35-year hold on power in Namibia, whose founding/liberation President Sam Nujoma died earlier this year at age 95.
Nandi-Ndaitwah succeeded Nangolo Mbumba, who stood in as president from February 2024 following the death of President Geingob, which led to her promotion to vice-President.
Married to Namibia’s former Chief of Defence Force, retired Lt.-Gen. Epaphras Denga Ndaitwah, the new president and her women-dominated administration face the challenge of proving that beyond their exemplary roles as home builders and resource managers, women can also out-perform their male counterparts in political governance.
Namibia's 1325 National Action Plans (NAP), builds on the country’s National Gender Policy, developed as complementary to other mechanisms and frameworks to advance women’s rights. The overarching goal of the NAP is to create “a safe and peaceful Namibia where all women, men, girls and boys have equal rights and live without fear or want and in dignity”
Namibia is expected to address other aspects of inclusiveness in governance to involve Persons with Disability (PWDs) and other marginalised groups.
But from the composition of Nandi-Ndaitwah’s cabinet, the Southern African nation with a relatively small population estimated at three million is making a strong statement to bigger countries in the advanced and developing World about the values and merits of diversity and Affirmative action.
Equal treatment of, and opportunities to persons irrespective of gender, race, religion, tribe/ethnic considerations, appearance or social standing will not only engender peaceful co-existence but also promote human development and progress.
Paul Ejime is a Media and Communications Specialist and Global Affairs Analyst
Imagine a Rivers State where President Bola Ahmed Tinubu hesitated to declare a state of emergency. The political standoff between the State Assembly and Governor Siminalayi Fubara could have continued and degenerated into violence. Impeachment threats might have spurred attacks on lawmakers by the Governor’s supporters, while militants in the creeks—primed to sabotage critical oil infrastructure—could have plunged Nigeria’s oil production back to pre-2023 lows. Sensational reporting of the crisis by journalists and opportunistic litigation would have inflamed tensions further, paralysing governance and risking lives. Schools and hospitals would shutter; investors would flee. We can only imagine the human and economic toll.
Thanks to the President’s intervention, Rivers State can breathe again today. Political tensions have eased, banal headlines have quietened, and stakeholders—encouraged by the newly appointed administrator—are charting a path to lasting peace. Critics who argue the crisis “did not yet warrant” an emergency rule ignore a stark truth: waiting for the breakdown of law and order to escalate into anarchy before acting is like withholding firefighters until a house burns to ashes.
A responsible leader like President Tinubu, who swore an oath to protect the constitution and corporate existence of the country, can not fail to act when a constituent part of the Federation is careering towards the precipice. The political crisis in Rivers State between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and members of the State House of Assembly who owe allegiance to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, that blew open barely six months into the administration of the Governor has degenerated by 18 March. A chain of events since the war of attrition started 14 months ago among the combatants had indeed paralysed the government of Rivers State to the point where Fubara, copying from the bad book of former Governor Obaseki in Edo, emasculated an arm of government entirely. This reality informed the Supreme Court’s damning verdict about the absence of government in the State as enshrined in the 1999 constitution of Nigeria, as amended. The court also excoriated Fubara for acting like a despot.
Rivers was in a grave situation, as the combatants refused to allow reason to prevail, even after the Supreme Court judgment, before President Tinubu declared a state of emergency on 18 March. The President took action in the best interest of the people of the State, who had become victims of the warring politicians, the people they elected to serve them. President Tinubu needed to act. He chose prevention over cure.
Section 305 of Nigeria’s Constitution empowers the President to act when the nation faces a breakdown of law, order, and economic security —precisely the case in Rivers, a bastion of Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy. Intelligence confirmed militants, told by Fubara to await signals, were already targeting pipelines, risking a collapse in output and a Niger-Delta domino effect. Historical precedents, such as the past emergencies in Plateau and Borno and the doctrine of necessity, support the President’s proactive measures to avert disaster. The President’s oath demands he must not fail in his sacred duty to safeguard national stability, not watch idly as partisan strife strangles our democracy and the material well-being of Nigerians, whose prosperity depends on the social and economic interdependence of every part of the country. Rivers State is a significant hydrocarbon economic artery in Nigeria, and any dislocation and politically motivated disruption of the State’s oil industry have ripple effects on the national economy.
Answering the Critics:
Critics claim the emergency rule in Rivers undermines democracy. Their position misrepresents reality. The intervention is temporary, surgical, and aimed at restoring—not replacing—democratic institutions. The suspension of political actors for six months is no power grab; it is not a permanent removal but a reset to disarm warring factions. Notably, the same critics who assailed the President’s action for suspending the political actors remain silent on Governor Fubara’s refusal to collaborate with the legislature, exposing their partisan bias. Democracy can not thrive amid lawlessness—anarchy is its antithesis.
The appointed administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (Rtd.), has already convened a meeting with traditional leaders, one of his first steps to forge lasting solutions. This intervention ensures Rivers’ people retain their democratic rights while shielding the Nigerian and Rivers State economies from collapse. It is worth repeating that President Tinubu acted within the law and his executive powers under the constitution until the Supreme Court says otherwise.
President Tinubu and the National Assembly remain committed to lifting the emergency once stability returns and ensuring elected officials resume their duties.
The 18th-century English philosopher Edmund Burke once warned, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” President Tinubu chose courage over complacency. His action prioritised Nigeria’s interest over political expediency, averting a more profound crisis. To those who brand him a democrat turned “tyrant,” my response to them is simple: Which democracy prospers in chaos? Rivers’ newfound calm vindicates President Tinubu’s resolve. He deserves commendation, not condemnation, not calumny for his statesmanship. Rivers and Nigeria are safer for it.
-Onanuga is the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy
“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”
– Gideon J. Tucker
A Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos would not vacate his seat for anyone appointed illegally from Abuja – or from anywhere. If the heavens wanted to fall, he would ask them to fall. He would not go hide somewhere in his wife’s handbag, and from the safety of his ghetto be issuing gutless press releases. If Abuja insisted on his suspension, he would mobilise the law and lawyers for eruptions of seismic proportions. He would ask the Supreme Court to determine whether the president could sack or suspend elected governors, appoint caretaker governors and take over the role of state Houses of Assembly. He would ask the apex court to reconcile this case with its earlier verdict which outlawed caretaker governments for one of our tiers of government. He would put everything he had into the mix; he would count the teeth of the tiger in Abuja. But Rivers is not Lagos, and Siminalayi Fubara is not Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The difference between both is the difference between courage and cowardice.
Until Saturday when he spoke on the Rivers State problem, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan walked the terrace of power with utmost carefulness. He avoided speaking truth to power the way the barefooted avoids walking a floor of broken glass. But on Saturday, he came out of his zone of reticence, and dared the dark, dangerous sherds of impunity. Jonathan spoke following President Bola Tinubu’s deployment of a Supreme Court judgment to meddle with and seize control of the nuts and bolts of our federation. In a fit of daring, calculative move for political advantage, Tinubu suspended democracy on a floor of the structure. And days after the act, without a whim of resistance, he got legislative approval for the mess. He left no one in doubt that all the powers and principalities of this realm are with him and that they work for him.
The three arms of government in Nigeria have become a triangular cult of iniquity. If the executive is after you, the other two quickly join in the clobbering. Jonathan identified the spring head of the problem. He saw: “a clear abuse of office, clear abuse of power, clear abuse of privileges, cutting across the three arms of government — from the executive through the parliament and to the judiciary.” Now, when those three institutions of democracy become citadels of abuse, what remains and what is next for us?
Yesterday, 23 March, 2025, was the 92nd anniversary of the enactment of Germany’s Enabling Act which gave Adolf Hitler the power to make laws without parliamentary approval.
Nazi Germany had a parliament known as the Reichstag. The decay and destruction of that institution started in very innocuous bits, very small. It took off by saying yes to everything the leader did or took before it. The parliament members, incrementally, thought the leader deserved not their check, but their cheeks. Reichstag began its descent and quickened its suicide by enacting laws without any real debate or opposition. Then it took many other self-destruct steps; the climax came on 23 March, 1933, when Reichstag passed the historic Enabling Act transferring its powers and functions to the head of the executive.
In this Rivers matter, the Supreme Court cast the foundation, the president laid the blocks, the legislature roofed the edifice of an emerging autocracy. Jonathan spoke on the executive dictating judgments to judges. He described Nigeria as a country where “government functionaries can dictate to judges what judgment they will give.” That was a huge one. We expect a reaction or denial from the judiciary now or never. The ex-president also spoke on the operatives of the three branches of government not giving a damn as the country burned. He said they were feigning sleep while a flood of badness swept through the land. What he spoke on was the treachery of the judiciary and the perfidy of the legislature, both of which act as palace courtiers, and as whores of benefit who have surrendered their functions, power and glory to the president.
Checks and balances. How often do we ask what they are and why they are at the core of this democracy? Destruction of checks and balances creates excesses that take rest of mind away from the society. Absolute power creates all the antonyms of peace and stability. It makes the nation the ultimate sick man on a roller coaster. It was exactly so for Hitler and his Germany. The Nazi leader, on 23 March, 1933, got the powers to make laws. The ease with which he got it made him think it was time for further consolidation. Thus, on 7 April, 1933, the leader put officials of his political party in charge of all local governments. On 14 July, 1933, Reichstag became a one-party parliament. January 1934, the ruling party took over all state governments. On 19 August, 1934, the leader announced himself president, chancellor and head of the army. The Fuhrer was born!
Our National Assembly would act Reichstag if it had not done so already. It spent the whole of last weekend denying taking bribes to approve the president’s illegal suspension of democracy in Rivers State. Our multi party Senate has 109 members; the House of Representatives has 360, elected from various parties. Yet, on a very critical day last week, members of the parliament collapsed their structures into a single party; they endorsed illegality with a single voice. The president suspended democracy, appointed and swore in a viceroy to serve as governor. He declared a state of emergency without parliament’s prior approval. He usurped the powers of the legislators and the legislators endorsed the usurpation without following the law. They used voice votes to announce that he was right!
Treachery has no other definition. What does it cost a leader to be told the truth? President Bola Tinubu himself called for truth two weeks ago. He told Catholic Bishops who paid him a visit that they should tell him the truth whenever he was missing the way: “I’m here open to you, ready to listen…I won’t shut my door,” he said. But he made that request to the wrong audience. The right audience for that demand is the National Assembly, a conglomerate of dank agents. They are his enemy. He also acts his own enemy, redacting his own records of resistance and activism.
Abuse of any power will happen where there are no checks. With the help of the legislature and the judiciary, Prime Minister Balewa abused the emergency law of his time. Olusegun Obasanjo did same. And, despite all the political and legal repercussions of what Balewa and Obasanjo did, Tinubu learnt nothing and has also done it. He now sits back, watches and smiles as we fret.
The president and all who cheer him would remember that this presidential democracy is not our creation. We copied it from America. And if they agree that we copied this system from the US, have they ever found out why an American president has never tried to suspend or remove a state governor under any pretext, including under emergencies which are provided for under their own laws? It is because US governors are not boys of the president, and both sides know this to be legally and historically correct.
Where the law is allowed to work, there are always consequences for aberrant behaviour. Whatever is happening in Donald Trump’s America today, the fact is that the US Congress had historically managed to contain the excesses of presidents who thought they were king. I cite an example:
President Andrew Johnson took over as US president following the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln. But Johnson does not enjoy as much favours of history as Lincoln does. Why?
President Johnson ran into problems because of his Kabiyesi stance on procedural and constitutional issues. On August 5, 1867, Johnson asked Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton to resign because the secretary disagreed with him over Reconstruction plans. The man refused to resign. The president gave him a week of grace, the man remained recalcitrant; then the president suspended him on August 12 without the approval of the Congress.
Four months after that act (December 12), the president submitted his reasons for suspending Secretary Stanton to the Senate. On January 13, 1868, Senate refused to approve Johnson’s suspension of Stanton. The following day, the man who had been acting as Interim Secretary of War, Ulysses S. Grant, informed President Johnson that in view of Senate’s decision, he was vacating his post for the rightful owner, Stanton. He left.
Stubborn President Johnson, on February 21, 1868 in gross violation of the Tenure of Office Act, formally removed Stanton and gave the control of the War Department to General Lorenzo Thomas. With the law behind him, sacked Stanton glared down President Johnson’s decision. For the next two months, he stayed put, he slept and woke up (holed up) in his cabinet office, barricading himself in there.
The US Congress watched with consternation as the president usurped its powers. It saw what the president did as a blatant violation of the Tenure of Office Act. It proceeded to commence an impeachment process against the Commander-in-Chief. On February 24, 1868, the House of Representatives voted 126-47 to impeach Johnson.
On March 5, 1868, the Senate began its impeachment trial with Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presiding. On May 16, 1868, the Senate voted 35-19 to convict President Johnson. The figure was, however, one vote short of the necessary two-third majority to get the man sacked. On May 26, 1868, the Senate gave the president a reprieve, it voted to acquit the president on two of the charges. It then adjourned and never voted on the remaining eight articles of impeachment.
Johnson escaped sack but the damage had been done. It was effectively the ‘end’ of Johnson as president. He never recovered.
On 11 July, 2024, Nigeria’s Supreme Court declared that state governors had no power to sack elected local government chairmen and councilors and constitute caretaker committees to run the local governments. The court further declared that a local government council was only recognisable with a democratically elected government.
“A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,’’ the apex court declared.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was the plaintiff in that case saluted the Supreme Court for delivering justice. He said the judgment had effectively ended the practice of governors replacing democracy with autocracy by wantonly sacking elected council bosses and replacing them with unelected caretaker committees.
On Wednesday, 19 March, 2025, the same Fagbemi addressed a press conference in Abuja endorsing President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of a caretaker governor for Rivers State and the suspension of democratic structures there. “A lawyer’s truth is not the truth” (David Henry Thoreau).
Fagbemi is supposed to know (and he knows) that there is nothing like ‘suspension’ of governor or ‘suspension’ of the legislature in our constitution which governs all other laws and everything about our democracy. But he went further to threaten other governors with the fate of Fubara. He hinted them not to dare dare his boss: “It is Rivers State’s turn today, it can be anybody’s turn tomorrow, let the signal be clearly sent to those who want to foment trouble, who want to make the practice of democracy and the enjoyment of dividends of democracy a mirage to think twice.” In other words, when you slaughter a goat in the presence of another goat, the living will be sober; it will behave well.
But wait. If the emergency rule is declared by the president over the whole country, will he appoint himself sole administrator and suspend the National Assembly? Or who rules?
To Nigeria’s chief law officer, under an emergency rule, the president can become the electorate deciding who governs and who ceases to govern. He can also be the people of any or all the states; voters in INEC registers would become Shakespeare’s “blocks, stones …worse than senseless things.”
From the courts to the president’s office to the office of the Attorney-General, to the parliament, we could see the futility in hoping for acting right and talking straight. An incestuous triangle of the three arms or what David Wyatt called a “tyrannizing unity” of the powers, reigns.
Their ways remind us of a favourite passage in Jonathan Swift’s ‘Gulliver’s Travels’: “You have clearly proved that ignorance, idleness, and vice are the proper ingredients for qualifying a legislator. That laws are best explained, interpreted, and applied by those whose interest and abilities lie in perverting, confounding, and eluding them.”
Emergency rule started in Rome around the 3rd century BC. The Romans used the law to create what they called ‘office of the dictator’ to solve specific public (safety) problems. They had two main categories of such. The first they named the dictatura rei gerundae causa (dictatorship for getting things done). The second was dictatura seditionis sedandae causa (dictatorship for suppressing civil insurrection). The Romans did not, however, create the emergency rules and laws for free roamers to exploit. They limited the dictators’ term to six months. They also struggled to contain abuse of their powers. But, apparently because of abuses such as we saw last week in Nigeria, the Roman senate took direct control of resolving crises. It replaced the office of dictator with what was called ‘Ultimate Decree of the Senate’ (senatus consultum ultimum). The present controversy presents us an opportunity to also rethink our emergency law and everything connected with it.
Strong, uncontrollable leaders always put their nations in trouble. Keeping quiet, excusing their excesses or enabling their illegality put everyone in danger. Where big men reign above the law and below decency, people pay for what they did not buy. Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini was created and nurtured by a culture of acquisence. His appointment as Prime Minister in 1922 was approved despite his party holding only 35 seats out of 535 in the parliament. With intimidation and harassment of voters, his party pushed up its figure to 374 seats in the April 1924 election. In January 1925, Mussolini, right inside the parliament, declared himself dictator. The legislators heard him and applauded him. They proceeded to grant him more powers. They passed laws that dissolved opposition parties and shut down free press. Mussolini dismantled democratic institutions that won’t let him breathe and emit fire. He got the constitutionally recognised Chamber of Deputies, Italy’s equivalent of our House of Representatives, replaced by something called the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations, a body controlled by his Fascist Party. He made the parliament in his image transforming it for his use in outlawing the opposition and the law.
The National Assembly that sat last week in Abuja may go that way unless Kabiyesi, our president, does not want it to.
Democracy is often cast as the antithesis of authoritarian rule — a beacon of liberty standing firm against the shadows of oppression. Yet, history tells a more intricate tale. Authoritarian regimes rarely storm the gates; instead, they slip quietly through the corridors of power, emerging not as abrupt usurpers but as offspring of the very systems meant to guard against them. In our modern age, the fall of democracy is seldom marked by a single, violent coup. It is a slow, insidious unravelling — the steady decay of institutions, the quiet bending of norms. It is the gradual surrender of freedom, handed over piece by piece, often in the name of rule of law or security. Thus, the path to autocracy is not carved by force alone but paved with the very stones once laid to uphold democracy.
Authoritarianism, unlike ancient times, does not emerge like a light switch. So, we can rightly say that the intersection of democracy and authoritarianism is gradual. This gradual shift from democracy to authoritarianism is often enabled. In Nigeria, there is growing concern among political analysts that the country is witnessing the rise of authoritarian tendencies within its democratic institutions. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been accused of manipulating democratic processes to consolidate power. Therefore, the question is not whether authoritarianism is looming but how it is being enabled and perpetuated. Urgent action is needed to prevent further erosion of democratic norms.
Political analysts have argued that a significant tool to rein in most political actors is economic instability and impoverishment, which causes them to switch to survival mode. Nigeria’s social and economic conditions have created an ecosystem that makes manipulating democratic institutions easier than before. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been particularly instrumental in this erosion, using its enormous financial power to control the political class and, which is mainly in a survival mode and has no option but to become pliant to partake of the largesse of executive economic power.
Besides, poverty has been weaponised, and many people are either busy fighting to earn a living or just nonchalant about confronting a democratic government that is gradually sliding into authoritarianism. This ecosystem is on full display today in Nigeria. It only takes a political leadership interested in the benefits of authoritarianism to activate these enablers. The ruling APC has so much power to manipulate the democratic systems unchecked and with impunity.
Common enablers of authoritarianism are a rubber-stamp legislature, a compromised judiciary, and an impotent civil society, particularly a labour movement that has lost its virility. Other enablers include a media that prioritises propaganda and economic gains over national interest and, elite greed. A critical examination of how these enablers play out in our country today will help us appreciate the democratic backslide we are experiencing.
A functional legislature serves as a critical check on executive power. However, Nigeria’s National Assembly has increasingly become subservient to the executive. A legislature can enable autocracy either by deliberate design or by default. By default, rampant corruption among lawmakers has compromised the integrity of legislative oversight. Legislators fail to challenge executive overreach due to personal financial interests. Deliberately, if a dominant political party has an authoritarian agenda, it can use the legislature to rubber-stamp executive decisions. A subservient legislature is a National Assembly that goes against the constitutional procedure in every respect to please the Sovereign.
With its control of both legislative houses, the APC has weakened parliamentary independence. One of the most blatant examples of legislative subservience is the unconstitutional use of a voice vote in determining a two-thirds majority, as seen in critical decisions, such as approving President Tinubu’s emergency proclamations. The reasons are clear. Section 305(2) & (6)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) states that at least two-thirds must approve an emergency proclamation of all members of each House (Senate and House of Representatives). A voice vote (where members say “Aye” or “Nay”) cannot accurately count the required two-thirds majority. Democracy in its pure form is about counting numbers.
When a supermajority (such as two-thirds) is required, a recorded vote is necessary to ensure compliance with the constitutional requirement. The Senate and House Standing Orders typically require a roll call or electronic voting system to determine numerical compliance for such critical decisions. A voice vote is insufficient for determining a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly for an emergency proclamation. A formal recorded vote must be conducted to confirm the exact number of lawmakers in support.
So, the procedure adopted by the House of Representatives and Senate in approving President Tinubu’s Proclamation is wrong. You cannot determine 2/3rds in a voice vote. It is both illegal and undemocratic. Hussaini Abdu aptly captures the state of the legislature: “The National Assembly has long abandoned its role as a representative body meant to hold the executive accountable. Instead, it has devolved into a transactional arena where self-enrichment and power negotiations take precedence over democratic responsibility.”
The judiciary, as the last line of defence for democracy, is expected to uphold the rule of law. However, judicial decisions in Nigeria have increasingly been seen as influenced by personal and external interests rather than strict legal principles. Corrupt judges deliver judgments that favour those in power. Political infiltration of judicial institutions has eroded public trust in the judiciary. Judicial interpretations are frequently skewed to justify undemocratic actions. A notable case was the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Rivers State crisis that dumbfounded many legal experts and the public and exacerbated the political embroglio in the state that led to the president’s declaration of a state of emergency. When the judiciary ceases to be independent, democratic governance crumbles, leaving citizens with no recourse for justice. In Nigeria, there is a widespread belief that judicial rulings—especially in election disputes—are determined by political and financial considerations rather than legal merit.
A robust civil society is essential for holding government accountable. However, Nigeria’s civil society has suffered from a severe decline in effectiveness due to various factors. There is a total breakdown of the structures that enable citizens to organise, advocate, and hold power accountable. The absence of nationalistic political consciousness has fragmented advocacy efforts. Many civil society groups have been co-opted by political elites, diluting their activism. The legacy of prominent activists like Gani Fawehinmi, Hajia Gambo Sawaba, Chima Ubani, and Pa E.K. Clark is fading, with few emerging leaders willing to take up the mantle of resistance. Prof Wole Soyinka has gone past his prime. Olisa Agbakoba
and Femi- Falana have done their bit. Where is the successor generation of activists? Without an organised and vibrant civil society, authoritarian tendencies can flourish unchecked, as there is little resistance from the populace. The need for a strong civil society is more pressing than ever.
Labour unions have historically played a crucial role in resisting authoritarian regimes. However, Nigeria’s Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have become increasingly toothless. The government has effectively neutralised the power of labour unions through economic pressures and divide-and-rule tactics. The NLC’s repeated failure to execute nationwide strikes has eroded its credibility. In 2023, despite multiple announcements of planned nationwide strikes to protest fuel subsidy removal and inflation, the strikes were either suspended or ineffective due to government interference. Abiodun Oluwadare captures it this way: “The NLC’s inability to deliver on its threats and repeated backing down from strikes have led to a loss of public trust. This makes mass mobilisation difficult, allowing governments and businesses to ignore its demands.” Labour has not since 2023 successfully influenced the government to change its position on any matter of public interest.
A free press is a fundamental pillar of democracy. However, Nigerian media has increasingly prioritised propaganda and financial interests over journalistic integrity. Many media houses align with political or ethnic factions, reducing objectivity. Journalists are often financially compromised into silence. Government-friendly narratives dominate mainstream media, limiting access to dissenting views. This erosion of media independence has led to a public that is either misinformed or deliberately kept in the dark about crucial national issues.
Aso Rock is interested in controlling all “levers of power” often overshadowing other arms of government. This concentration of power has led to reduced institutional checks and balances, presidential interest overriding legislative decisions. Nigeria is seeing a resurgence of authoritarian tendencies in silencing dissenting voices. A full-fledged authoritarian regime is only a matter of time. Nigeria has become less liberal over the last two years, thanks to the manipulation of critical institutions of democracy. The judiciary frequently validates undemocratic actions under legal pretexts, and lawmakers serve executive interests rather than the electorate.
The enablers of authoritarianism are well-entrenched in Nigeria’s political landscape. A weak legislature, a compromised judiciary, a fragmented civil society, an ineffective labour movement, and a politicised media have all contributed to the country’s democratic decline. The unchecked concentration of power in the presidency has further exacerbated this trend. Urgent action is needed to safeguard Nigeria’s democracy. Strengthening institutional independence to prevent executive overreach, reviving civil society, re-establishing activist movements to demand accountability, ensuring media objectivity and independence, and encouraging active citizen participation in governance.
Democracy is not self-sustaining. It requires constant vigilance and commitment from both the leadership and the citizenry. Nigerians must recognise the warning signs of authoritarianism and take proactive steps to resist its encroachment before it becomes thoroughly entrenched. A Nigeria where democratic institutions are genuinely independent, and governance is driven by transparency and accountability is still possible. However, it requires a collective effort to push back against authoritarian enablers and restore the democratic principles upon which the nation was founded.
Nigerian journalists, wearing medals of bravery in fights against colonialists and politicians and, bearing the scars of battles against military dictatorship, are marking the 70th anniversary of their union.
No, journalism in the country did not start seven decades ago. It was the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, that was established at that time. Proper journalism began in 1859, that is 166 years ago with the publication of the first newspaper ‘Iwe Irohin’. Since then, the bulk of journalists have strived to be the voice of the people. ‘The Lagos Weekly Record’ published by John Payne Jackson, from 1891-1930, was a torn in the flesh of the colonialists. It combined journalism with political activism, including organising protests against the colonialists.
Five years before the 1914 Amalgamation of Nigeria into a single country, the colonialists had enacted the Seditious Offences Act of 1909 to repress and suppress the press. One of the most outstanding journalists of the anti-colonial era was Ernest Ikoli. He was the Editor of the ‘Daily Express’, Member of the Legislative Council and President of the Nigeria Youth Movement, NYM. He mentored towering nationalists like Obafemi Awolowo. As the Second World War raged, the colonialists imposed the General Defence Regulations of 1941 which curbed workers activities and virtually made strikes in any establishment an illegal act.
The fragmented trade unions knew that they were no march for the formidable British colonial power. Although he was not a trade unionist, Ikoli used his position as the President of the NYM to call a unity meeting of the trade unions in the country. That was in October 1942. All the trade unions turned up, and Ikoli presided at what was to become the first labour centre in the country. There was Anthony Enahoro who, at 21 in 1944, became the youngest Editor of a mainstream newspaper, the ‘Southern Nigeria Defender’. He was jailed three times by the colonialists for offences which included inciting workers to attack the police and, chairing a national conference in which ‘A Call For Revolution’ was made to overthrow the colonial government.
The NUJ was created on March 15, 1955 to cater for all journalists. It remains a unique union because while generally, the three arms in industrial relations: the employee, senior staff and employers, have separate unions, the NUJ accommodates all three under a single umbrella. The only proviso in its constitution is that anyone who sits on the side of management at meetings with the union, cannot hold an elective office in the NUJ. The NUJ has led journalists through bruising periods such as when media houses were shut down by the Shagari administration. The Buhari military regime built on this by issuing Decree 4 of 1984 under which the publication of the truth or falsehood could be criminal offences. Under Decree 4, two journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were sent to prison.
The Babangida regime tried to intimidate the press mostly by mindlessly shutting down media houses and detaining journalists without trial. In one of the most bizzare instances, that regime, in the wake of the 1990 Orkar attempted coup, seized 19 journalists and accused some of them of complicity, a treasonable crime that carried the death penalty.
Four years before then, a leading Editor, Dele Giwa, was murdered when a letter bomb sent to him exploded. Given the dangers journalists faced, some of them in the late 1980s decided to reform the NUJ and prepare it for the battles ahead. They established a movement, the New Trend, to practise a journalism of social relevance which placed the people at the centre of professional practice. The movement won the NUJ presidency in 1990 and uniquely, established a Journalists in Distress Fund. This effort, which raised huge sums, collapsed due to mismanagement and transparency challenges.
Eventually, the movement itself collapsed leading to marked degeneracy in the union. This was to the extent that in 2020, the NUJ leadership was linking the COVID-19 outbreak, to the roll out of the G5 network! The NUJ had in a salutary move far back in September 1989, empowered women journalists by establishing the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ.
The Nigerian newspaper, like its counterparts across the globe, was faced with the issue of a 24-hour newspaper which would report the news round the clock. The defunct ‘Daily Times’ had begun publishing its ‘Evening Times’. The ‘Vanguard Newspapers’ and the ‘Guardian Newspapers’ also introduced evening editions, while veteran Editor, Muyiwa Adetiba, published a wholly evening newspaper ‘Today’s News Today’, TNT. However, all these did not prepare the Nigerian newspaper for the on-coming revolution of a round-the-clock newspaper publication which the age of the internet imposed.
The newspapers, in order to survive and remain relevant, had to introduce electronic copies to the hardcopy newspapers they published. Now, the major newspapers, apart from their electronic version, also have their News TV. In fact, some have established full television stations. Today, the demarcation between the newspaper and electronic media has become blurred. All these have implications for journalists as all media can be accessed online virtually for free. These have had serious implications for advert and income which have led some media to collapse, while some journalists are unpaid for months.
These were not challenges the NUJ envisaged, but now at 70, has to face. There is also the advent of Citizen Journalism carried out by non- professional journalists or, anybody who can buy data. Also compounding the problem is the advent of media influencers many of who ride on the back of sensationalism, unverified news, blackmail and, sometimes, outright falsehood in order to make a living or become rich.
The NUJ has played significant roles in the life of the country, but has more tasks to carry out such as the constitutional responsibility of the journalist to hold government accountable to the people. It also needs to ensure that the Freedom of Information, FOI, Act is observed by all.
There are certainly lots of battles ahead as many politicians muddle the Constitution and turn our political landscape into crime scenes.
There is also the danger of weaponising the Cyber Crime Act to criminalise journalism practice and fundamental human rights. This will be intensified as governments realise that in the age of the internet, it will be far more difficult to control information.
Many elites, including those in government have risen to congratulate the NUJ at 70. It is truly an age to roll out the drums, but journalists know that amongst those congratulating them are enemies of press freedom. All lizards crawl on their stomach, we don’t know which have bellyache. May the next 70 years be more beautiful for generations of journalists. Ameen.
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While responding to a question during the Press Conference on the Declaration of Emergency Rule in Rivers State on Thursday, March 20, 2025, Alh. Atiku Abubakar confirmed that the formation of a Coalition ahead of 2027 general election is going on. This has generated wide interests and national debates with varied interpretations. In order to set the records straight, it is important to state that negotiations are ongoing and nothing has been finalised. Once concluded formal announcement will be made with all the details regarding composition of membership, programme of action towards 2027, framework for contesting the 2027 elections, etc.
Consultations are in advanced stages, basically reaching out to prospective members of the coalition, mapping out issues for agreements among members of the coalition. At this stage of negotiations, the main focus is around getting leaders to agree to work together and substantially there is strong recognition that prospective members should set aside personal ambitions to contest the 2027 elections. The second issue being negotiated is the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest.
These two issues are carefully being negotiated. While acknowledging that with respect to the requirement for members to set aside personal ambitions, there are strong interests being expressed around issues of zoning by individual leaders, these issues are yet to be formally discussed at any consultation meeting. The speculation therefore by some media analysts about disagreements stalemating the coalition negotiation is not true. The concensus among leaders is that the final decision about processes of candidates’ selection can only be handled and determined when there is agreement regarding the political party on whose platform the coalition will field candidates.
The question of negotiating the political party is the most difficult challenge. This is an area that many members of the coalitions have been engaging in different ways for more than a year now. Perhaps, it is important to highlight that there are many groups, including some members of the coalition who have filed applications to register political parties. For reasons best known to INEC, these applications are being frustrated. The only conclusion that can be reached in the circumstance is that INEC has decided that it will not register new parties.
To make matters worse, many of the existing registered parties who did not meet the electoral threshold of winning any seat in the last general elections face the threat of deregistration. Given this unpleasant reality, members of the coalition opened negotiations with some of the existing parties that have met the electoral threshold. Interestingly, somehow, some of the prospective parties being negotiated are being remotely pushed into crises mode in the same way PDP, Labour Party and NNPP have been entangled with existential problems. It is almost a clear case of destroying the legal basis for any party to qualify to field candidates for 2027 other than the ruling APC.
This is quite unfortunate coming during the tenure of a party that is envisioned to be progressive. It is even more troubling when it is during the tenure of a leader – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – who has unarguably been in the vanguard of Nigeria’s democratic struggle. The way the Nigerian democratic space is rapidly shrunken can only be imagined under a military government. The determination and resilience of Nigerians is being called to question under the current APC government led by President Tinubu.
The leaders of the coalition are committed to providing the needed leadership to rescue Nigerian democracy. We must appeal to all patriotic Nigerians to recognise the urgency of the situation facing the country. We don’t have the luxury of waiting until we get to 2027 only to discover that Nigerians have been smouldered into a legal knock out. Related to this is also the worrisome reality whereby rule of law is being tested in ways that is threatening to democratic development of the country. All patriotic Nigerians must appeal to members of the judicial arm of government to come to the rescue Nigerian democracy by demonstrating that indeed they are independent and to that extent uphold the sanctity of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution as amended.
We are confident that Nigerian democracy can be rescued. Rescuing Nigerian democracy is fundamentally about producing a political party that can guarantee and facilitate competitive political contests in the country. We recognise and respect all the interests, criticisms and reservations expressed by Nigerians, including those expressed by political leaders who in every respect are potential members of the coalition. Our strong appeal to all political leaders and Nigerians generally is that we must not allow personal interests to undermine our capacity to contribute to Nigeria’s democratic development.
Difficult as the situation would appear, the negotiation about the political party that will be the platform for the 2027 electoral contest is about to be concluded. All the attempt to push Nigeria into a one-party state will be defeated. Once the negotiation about political party is concluded, Nigerians will be formally informed of all the details, and mobilisation towards 2027 will commence. Other secondary negotiations will also commence. Details of procedure and processes of candidates’ selection will be similarly negotiated publicly through activities and meetings of organs of the party. Members of the party will be actively involved. All these critical issues will not be matters left to public speculation or reduced to manipulative antics of political leaders.
Rescuing Nigerian democracy is beyond simplistic debates of fielding candidates and the associated debates of the quality and where they come from. Everything must be done to produce elected leaders at all levels who will be accountable and, in every respect, and democratic in their dealings with Nigerians. Everything must be done to close this chapter of democratic national frustrations, which only produces emperors. This is the goal of the coalition, for which we appeal for the support of all patriotic Nigerians. We don’t envisage it will be an easy task, but we are determine to succeed.
[OPINION] Civil Service, “I-Am-Directed” Administrative Tradition, and Changing Times - Tunji Olaopa
AdminThe administration of government business is one of the key fundamental issues in public administration theories and practices. The framework of administration determines the core performance objectives that enable the public service—as the engine room of the state—to coherently and efficiently complement democratic governance anywhere across the world. When the bureaucracy emerged in the nineteenth century, it was founded on a notion of public administration that is coherent only to the extent that it sees the state in action and interaction. In this context, administration becomes synonymous with government, and it essentially concerns the entirety of the state’s activities in terms of the coordination and enforcement of policies, and the people and agencies that are involved in these activities. The concept of government represents the prototypical hierarchical and rule-bound institutions of the state based on formal and fixed laws and norms of operations. Seen in this context, government refers to that very institution that exerts executive authority within a political system and over the society. Government becomes the complex and organizational centre of administrative power separated, by that fact, from the rest of society.
This is the concept that gave birth to the management-by-directive tradition which undergirds Max Weber’s articulation of the nature of the bureaucracy. This tradition centralizes the decision-making process in a manner that gives the administrator or manager (in Nigeria and in a significant sense, the permanent secretary) a complete discretionary control over the employees and the entire administrative context. This tradition stipulates a set of administrative goals and objectives, rules, procedures, and regulations, as well as well-defined roles and responsibilities which serve as pathways to achieving these objectives. All these are codified as “general orders” that the employees are expected to strictly follow under the omniscient supervision of the manager or administrator. As a leadership paradigm, it follows what Martins G. Evans and Robert J. House call the path-goal trajectory of leadership effectiveness. This theory insists that the effectiveness of a leader is determined by the leader’s capability to assist the followers or employees in achieving organizational goals through motivation, clarifying the paths to the goals, and eliminating impediments.
This tradition owes its most influential theoretical basis to the groundbreaking work of Max Weber who erected public administration on the command-and-control structure of the Prussian army. The idea of bureaucracy, for him, is based on the notion of legal-rational authority; in other words, it is a structure with an authority that activates basic democratic principles and codes which employees and the society recognize as legitimate and for which career officials are custodians. Each position in the bureaucracy has its clearly defined rules, procedures, duties and rights, which are clearly defined to determine how the given authority is to be exercised. The bureaucracy therefore promises a stable organization that is neutral, hierarchically organized, efficient and inevitable; and is characterized by precision, continuity, discipline, strictness and reliability. However, Douglas McGregor’s analysis of what he calls Theory X and Theory Y in the administration of government business provides the philosophical foundation for management-by-directive. Theory X and Theory Y constitute a theoretical diagnostic of organizations and systems. McGregor’s theory evolved as a human relations theory that outlines certain underlining assumptions that managers have with regards to organizational functioning and performance.
The Weberian bureaucratic framework is founded on three basic propositions: first, management involves the deployment of people, material and money as means towards the achievement of particular economic objectives; second, that organizational objectives require the control and motivation of people; and, third, that without a strict organizational regimen, humans are usually unproductive and resistant to organizational needs. This theory is backed by a very dim and gloomy perception of human nature which conceives of an average employee as being (a) indolent by nature, (b) lacking in ambition and motivation, (c) naturally egoistic and therefore set to work contrary to organizational requirements, (d) naturally resistant to change, especially those that would contradict his selfish desires, (e) naturally deceivable. Given these assumptions, organizational goals can only be achieved if the discerning manager employs a very strong tactic in getting his indolent employees to achieve the set targets.
McGregor’s Theory X therefore demands the path-goal theory of leadership in its four iterations: achievement-oriented leadership, directive leadership, participative leadership and supportive leadership. Leadership is perceived in hierarchical framework. And this hierarchies are the basis for the assertion of administrative authority. The manager, for instance, stands at the zenith of that authority as the one person whose seniority enables her to monitor the administrative rules and procedures which those lower down the hierarchy must follow. This is the tradition that centralizes the significance of the Weberian administrative model for many years. It is the traditional model that constitutes the core of the framework for administering government business until the emergence of the managerial revolution in public administration in the second-half of the twentieth century. Managerialism upends almost all the assumptions that defines the bureaucracy in command-and-control terms.
The managerial revolution has as its most fundamental premise the argument that market-based business management principles and the entrepreneurial culture possess the most formidable capacity for ensuring public service efficiency in ensuring democratic service delivery to the citizens. The justification for this transition is simply that, for managerialists, the Weberian bureaucratic model is much too rigid, rule-bound, cumbersome, costly, inefficient and unresponsive to the needs of the citizens as the customers of public services. In its place, managerialism expects a government that is FAST—flatter, agile, streamlined and technology-enabled. The traditional structure of the bureaucracy, being rigid, inward-looking and founded on outdated competencies, must therefore be modernized in ways that make it more collaborative, transparent, flexible and participatory. This translates into a public service that is expected to be (a) fast-moving, intelligent, professional, information-rich, flexible, adaptable and entrepreneurial; (b) less employee-focused and rule-driven, deliver quality service; (c) performance-focused and accountable; and (d) operated by multidisciplinary team of new generation public managers and project teams.
In this managerial context, the real challenge is not what government does, but rather how it is done—the measurable means by which government business is effectively and efficiently administered to produce significant outputs and results. To achieve this performance-based results, therefore, it becomes important to reflect on the public service and the functions of public managers. Contrary to the transactional model of leadership which takes public manager as mere administrators who measure the temperature of the bureaucracy, managerialism insists that public managers must be freed from the bureaucratic operating mechanism and framework that limits their vision, creativity and capacity for managerial innovation. This then implies that administrators and front-line managers will not only be empowered to make critical decisions and achieve discretionary autonomy as a measure of the responsiveness of the system, they will also be held accountable for performance and measurable outcomes which emphasizes customer satisfaction and productivity.
McGregor conceptualizes managerialism in terms of Theory Y which not only provides a better understanding of human nature that undergird the bureaucracy, but also articulates a transformational understanding of administrative leadership. While Theory X has a gloomy perspective on personnel dynamics, and of employees in an organization being motivated only by the bare need for food, shelter and survival, the Theory Y paradigm insists on the contrary that humans in any system or organization are motivated by the need to satisfy the higher-order needs like social relationship, the search for esteem and dignity as well as the need to exercise their creative genius especially with regards to organizational performance.
McGregor’s Theory Y does not constitute a wholesale rejection of the Weberian traditional understanding of public administration. And this makes it a perfect theoretical framework for a neo-Weberian reconsideration of the required paradigm for rethinking the administration of government business. Given the failures of both the traditional Weberian tradition and the new public management and its managerial revolution, the neo-Weberian paradigm possesses the capabilities to incorporate useful insights from both frameworks. Its understanding of people, and of human resources management and human relations, constitutes a tremendous plank in building an organizational framework that gives the nod to productivity and performance.
But more than this, the framework of a shared transformative capacity of a leader, required by the Theory Y, turns public administration itself away from being a mere theory of government to a new understanding of it as a theory of governance. And within this new framework of governance, it provides the basis for a distributed paradigm of leadership that is the centerpiece of what has been called the change space model of leadership, rather than the path-goal theory. The change space model emphasized the idea of a leadership rather than that of a leader anchored on a personality. Thus, even when there is one public manager around which the administrative dynamics are anchored, the leadership trajectory is distributed across many multilayered points, from the permanent secretary to the front-line manager.
How then can we begin to reimagine the transition from Theory X to Theory Y which the neo-Weberian institutional framework permits? I will outline two fundamental variables in terms of which we can assess any bureaucratic system. The first concerns the dynamics of the workforce and the workplace, and the second has to do with the implication of the Theory Y for the structure performance management protocols of the public service. Theory X and Theory Y both have different frameworks that provide different perspectives of the workplace. Within the Theory X, the assumption that employees are lazy and irresponsible leads to a management style that is autocratic and utilizes the carrot and stick method to motivation. And a rigid bureaucratic environment that essentially stifles the employees’ creativity and entrepreneurial innovation.
But if we shift the assumption and rather see employees as self-motivated and ethical, and management style becomes more participatory and empowering, then we arrive at more employee engagement at the workplace that boost morale and motivation, enhance creativity and innovation, and enhance more efficient performance and productivity outcomes. The idea of decentralization (let managers manage), for example, provides department and individual managers with more autonomy and discretionary capacities in decision-making, while also empowering employees to have more say in procedural and performance matters. This makes for more job satisfaction that enable the workforce to do more. However, this transition must also carry forward the understanding that some responsibilities might need the management-by-directive mechanism that demands direct supervision.
All this has direct implications for performance management. This is to the extent that the workforce and its responsibilities are crucial to how we shift the focus from processes to results. Performance management is therefore a process of (a) communicating organizational aims and objectives to all stakeholders, (b) setting performance targets to measure the achievement goals and objectives, and (c) ensuring that all these activities provide a basis for continuous learning, improvement and performance accountability. Within a bureaucratic environment that is participatory, the performance management system (PMS) cannot be codified within the general orders. What is to be achieved, and how it is to be achieved will be a function of shared understanding. It will also involve a decentralized organizational process that, first, connects plans, strategies and blueprints to budgeting and funding; and second, cascades all this to the operational timelines of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
This enables the MDAs to arrive at their own vision, mission and value statements, as well as the performance strategies that distill, at the individual levels, performance contracts and target outputs between the key policy actors. This is what it means for a performance management system to emphasize a participatory planning of performance goals, service standard setting, and establishment of performance improvement plans and measures between the superiors and subordinates. The system also ensures the setting up of a performance-based reward and sanction linkage that connects performance to individual and departmental accountability in ways that encourage continuous learning and incremental improvement. For example, it is on the basis of performance reviews that supervisors decide as to whether their subordinates can be promoted, whether they need specific training to enhance their performance, or whether they deserve any performance-based rewards for the execution of their duties and responsibilities.
[OPINION] Chronicling Constituents’ Failed Attempts To Recall Representatives Since 1999 In The Face Of Natasha Recall Process - Isaac Asabor
AdminNigeria’s democratic experiment since 1999 has been riddled with inconsistencies, manipulations, and outright subversion of the people’s will. One of the constitutional tools that have suffered significant frustration is the recall process of elected legislators. Enshrined in Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution, the recall mechanism was designed to empower constituents to remove non-performing lawmakers. However, history has shown that while this process exists on paper, its practical application has been anything but successful. With the ongoing recall attempt against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, it is crucial to examine the history of failed recall efforts in Nigeria, the systemic bottlenecks, and the potential implications of the latest move against the Kogi Central lawmaker.
Without a doubt, Nigeria’s political paths since 1999 is replete with the footprints of futile recall attempts. Since 1999, there have been multiple attempts by constituents to recall their representatives, but none has succeeded. Political analysts argue that Nigeria’s political class has deliberately ensured that the recall process is practically impossible to achieve, weaponizing institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to frustrate legitimate recall efforts.
For instance, the most high-profile recall attempt in Nigeria’s democratic history was the move against Senator Dino Melaye in 2017. His constituents, reportedly aggrieved by his controversial conduct and alleged lack of representation, initiated the recall process. The exercise quickly became a battleground for political forces, with the state government playing a visible role in mobilizing against Melaye.
Despite INEC verifying over 188,000 signatures from his constituency, the recall process collapsed under legal gymnastics, delays, and alleged manipulation. The signature verification exercise recorded a woeful turnout of about 5.3% of registered voters, well below the constitutional threshold required for a recall. The process, rather than being a reflection of the people’s will, became an avenue for political grandstanding, rendering the recall mechanism effectively impotent.
In a similar vein, in 2016, some constituents of Borno South attempted to recall Senator Ali Ndume, citing poor representation and insensitivity to their plight. The effort, however, did not even advance beyond the initial petition stage, as it was heavily resisted by political forces loyal to the senator. The recall attempt eventually fizzled out without any substantial traction, once again demonstrating the structural weakness of Nigeria’s recall system.
Also in a similar vein, the recall attempt against Senator Jubril Aminu in 2005 was one of the earliest tests of the recall process in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Some of his constituents accused him of being disconnected from grassroots issues and initiated the process to remove him. However, it ended in futility, as the petition failed to meet INEC’s requirements due to alleged intimidation and vote suppression.
Beyond these high-profile cases, there have been multiple recall efforts against state and federal lawmakers, including former House of Representatives members like Farouk Lawan and Abdulmumin Jibrin. Each attempt faced insurmountable challenges ranging from the coercion of petitioners, political interference, judicial delays, and voter apathy.
In 2018, constituents in Kaduna attempted to recall Honourable Garba Datti Mohammed, citing neglect and lack of accountability. However, the recall effort never materialized beyond media discussions, as political heavyweights in the state quickly shut it down.
Similarly, in 2012, some constituents in Anambra Central reportedly attempted to recall Senator Chris Ngige, but the effort crumbled as allegations emerged that the petitioners were being intimidated and coerced into withdrawing their support for the recall.
At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Why do recalls fail in Nigeria?” The consistent failure of recall processes in Nigeria can be attributed to a combination of legal, institutional, and political factors:
First is unrealistic signature requirement. This is as constitutional provision that mandates a recall petition be signed by at least 50% of registered voters in the affected constituency is an uphill task in a country where voter turnout in elections rarely exceeds 40%.
In a similar vein, is INEC’s role in verification exercise. INEC, the electoral umpire responsible for verifying signatures, has often been accused of playing a biased role. The verification process is cumbersome and susceptible to manipulation, as was evident in Dino Melaye’s case.
Also in a similar vein is political interference. This is as political godfathers and state actors often intervene in recall processes to protect their loyalists. In many cases, state governments deploy resources to frustrate recall attempts, as seen in Kogi State under Governor Yahaya Bello’s tenure.
Still in a similar vein is that of security agencies being used as political tools. In fact, the police and other security agencies have been accused of intimidating petitioners and suppressing protests in favor of recall attempts. This discourages constituents from fully engaging in the process.
Another factor borders on judicial delays. The foregoing factor cannot be farfetched as the Nigerian judicial system is notorious for its slow pace so much that politicians facing recall often rush to the courts, obtaining injunctions that stall the process indefinitely.
Again is that of voter apathy and manipulation. Even when recall attempts gain traction, voter turnout during signature verification and the actual recall referendum remains abysmally low, making it easy for the process to fail.
Against the foregoing backdrop, it is germane to ask, “Is Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall another political charade?
The reason for the foregoing question cannot be incredible as the latest recall attempt targeting Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan follows a familiar script. Akpoti-Uduaghan, a vocal and independent-minded senator representing Kogi Central, has been a thorn in the flesh of entrenched political interests in Kogi State. The recall initiative against her, rather than being a spontaneous expression of the people’s will, appears orchestrated by powerful interests seeking to silence her.
The lessons from past recall failures indicate that the process will likely face the same fate as others before it. While her detractors may gather signatures, it remains to be seen if the threshold for recall will be met and if the process will be free from political interference. If history is anything to go by, the recall will likely fizzle out in the face of legal and political obstacles.
At this juncture, it is expedient to opine that the recall process in Nigeria, though a constitutional provision, has been reduced to a mere theoretical concept. Since 1999, every recall attempt has failed, not necessarily due to a lack of public will but because of systemic manipulations and political subterfuge. The ongoing recall attempt against Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan must be viewed with skepticism, as it bears all the hallmarks of politically motivated recalls in the past. If Nigeria’s democracy is to mature, the recall mechanism must be reformed to truly reflect the people’s will rather than serve as a political weapon wielded by the powerful against their adversaries.