Knocks, kudos trail Tinubu declaration of state emergency in Rivers
Mixed reactions have continued to trail the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu In which the president appointedVice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as the Administrator for six months.
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Some residents of Nsukka said this in a separate interviews with our correspondent in Nsukka on Thursday, they expressed different views on the state of emergency in Rivers State.
Mr Gerald Eze, the former Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Nsukka chapter said he aligned himself with the position of NBA National that had already declared the state of emergency in Rivers State as illegal and unconstitutional.
Eze said NBA had queried how the president would declare state of emergency without first getting approval from national assembly as stipulated by 1999 constitution as amended.
According to him the President lacked constitutional power to unilaterally remove elected officials under the guise of emergency rule without approval of national assembly.
Speaking on the issue Dr Chinedu Ejezie, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science said the problem in Rivers State was not enough to warrant the president to declare state of emergency
He accused the president of being bias even in his speech as he mentioned Gov Siminalayi Fubara
many times in his speech without mentioning the FCT Minister Chief Nyson Wike who also
a principal actor in the crisis that have engulfed Rivers since Fubara
assumed office as governor.
The don further said that by the 1999 constitution the president is expected to obtain the approval of the national assembly before declaring the state of emergency in Rivers State.
” The 1999 constitution as amended says the president must obtain approval from national assembly before declaring any state of emergency in any state,”he said.
Ejezie who is the Welfare Officer of Academics Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) said there was justification blaming Fubara for not using security agencies to stop militants from blowing oil pipelines when Mr President is the Commander -in-Chief of Armed forces in the country.
“Fubara does not control soliders, police and other security agencies who take directives from their head offices in Abuja, but like the proverbial saying, you must give a dog bad name inorder to kill the dog,” Ejezie said.
Dr. Linus Akata, the Chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) in UNN said that the crisis in Rivers could be resolved politically instead of declaring state of emergency if Tinubu has taken bold steps in addressing the crisis.
“Yes Mr President says he has intervened many times to resolve the problem but I don’t think he told Wike his the truh
but he only blamed Fubara, treating the FCT minister as a ‘sacred cow” who is main actorr in the crisis,”.
However, Prof Jonah Onuoha of Department of Political Science UNN and fomer Head of department, commended Tinubu for the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State noting that the situation in that state was gradually getting out of hand.
“I commend Mr President for the state of emergency in Rivers because the situation is getting out of hand in that state.
“I advise residents of Rivers State to cooperate with the sole administrator so that within the six months normalcy will return in the state and suspended executive and legislative arms of government will be restored,” he said.
