Olusegun Ariyo
The Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, Seriake Dickson has said that it would be difficult for the National Assembly to get the vote needed to pass President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State.
The lawmaker said he would be very surprised if the declaration of the state of emergency by President Tinubu saw the light of the day in the Nigerian legislature.
Tinubu had on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, citing security reasons.
He went further to suspend the Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara and his debuty, Prof. Ngozi Odu.
Nigerians across the board have since condemned the President’s action, citing various sections of the Nigerian Constitution he violated by so doing.
However, the matter is now before the National Assembly, which would vote in support or against the President’s declaration for it to officially take off.
Dickson, a member of the main opposition political party in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, said he does not see the President getting the needed votes.
The Senate adjourned the matter till today, Thursday.
Appearing on Arise Television, Dickson said, “Nigerians have the right to expect, after all we are their representatives. You know, we are elected by them to represent them, and I know that expectation is high.
“We could have done it today, but you see, the Constitution has prescribed rule. This emergency rule is a very serious constitutional development indeed. That is one of the most serious constitutional developments.
“And the framers of the Nigerian constitution took their time, not only in regulating strictly the conditions under which it can be imposed.
“And let me be clear, none of these [rules] talk about removal of elected officials, none of it. In other words, the expectation is that you as the President, even when he declares the state of emergency, can do so to strengthen and aid the elected officials not to replace them.
“After the declaration, which the President has done, what he has done, has not completed the declaration. The President has only started the process.
“Whatever he has done [including swearing in the sole administrator] is inchoate. It has not crystallized. The powers of emergency under Section 305 have not crystallized.
“In other words, legally speaking, constitutionally speaking, there’s no effective emergency rule now until the Senate and the House, the National Assembly, collectively speaking, by a two-thirds majority, you see how the Constitution recognizes that it’s an extraordinary situation.
“Now, the constitutional requirement is for the President to forward that proclamation to the National Assembly, and it has to be gazetted and sent.
“When they receive it, the Speaker and the Senate President, as they normally do every morning, will read communications from the executive that have to be presented.
“Once that is presented, then the process of the National Assembly’s participation in this emergency rule process has kicked in. Well now, right today, we expected it. I was there. A lot of members were there, and we all have our views.
“There may be some who are in support, but I can tell you, it will be a difficult thing to get it passed. And let me tell you, the Constitution says two-thirds majority, in other words, of the total number, not of the people who are present.
“And there are some of us who because we take this seriously. It’s an ideological issue. It’s not just personal. It’s not because of Fubara, it is not because of Amaewule.
“It’s not because there is an APC government doing it. No, it is for some of us, ideological, it has to be a matter of protecting the sovereignty of the people of Rivers State, and then the democratic rights.”
