Olusegun Ariyo
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu broke Nigeria’s constitution by removing Governor Siminalayi Fubara and declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State.
Amaechi also expressed disappointment over the ineffectiveness of the National Assembly in the matter, describing the Red Chamber as a very weak institution that aided Tinubu in instituting an illegal government.
The former Rivers State governor spoke at the 9th Edition of Akinjide Adeosun Foundation, AAF, Annual Leadership Discourse themed: “Fearless Leadership: A Panacea for Sustainable Development,” organised by AAF yesterday in Lagos.
“This is where government is not by law, but by the whims and caprices of an individual leader. Like the current pronouncement of an illegal and unconstitutional state of emergency in Rivers State, aided by weak institutions like the National Assembly, which is very weak.
Amaechi said: “For a governor or a president, who subscribes to such a concept, it is what he or she does that is law. It is not what is in the book that is the law. There is also the non-observance of the basic principles of law.
“What is even more alarming is that the breach in the situation is not even about the law. The president didn’t break any law. He broke the Constitution.
“Now, this breach of the constitution is a breach of the sacredness and sanctity of the constitution. The constitution of a country is the Bible of that country. And its sanctity must be protected.
“Can we say the same in Nigeria? The response would be a resounding no. The president looked at the whole of Nigeria and removed an elected governor in Rivers State and appointed a military man, yet the country continued. Nothing happened,” he lamented.
Urban Express News Online reports that Tinubu declared a state of Emergency in Rivers state a few weeks ago following the prolonged political crisis in the south-south state.
The president also suspended Fubara, his deputy, and the state assembly members. He later nominated Ibok-Eke Ibas as the Administrator of Rivers State
