By dismissing Governor Siminalayi Fubara and imposing a state of emergency in Rivers State, former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi has maintained that President Bola Tinubu violated Nigeria’s constitution.
Amaechi was also disappointed by the National Assembly’s lack of action in the case, calling the Red Chamber a weak institution that let Tinubu impose an unconstitutional 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.
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 law. There is also the non-observance of the basic principles of law.
“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.
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“What is even more alarming is that the breach in the situation is not even about 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? Obviously, the response would be a resounding no. The president looked at the whole Nigeria and removed an elected governor in Rivers State and appointed a military man, yet the country continued. Nothing happened,” he lamented.
According to The Intercept, Tinubu imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State a few weeks ago in response to the protracted political unrest in the south-south state.
The state assembly members, Fubara and his deputy, were also suspended by the president.
Later on, he proposed Ibok-Eke Ibas to be Rivers State’s administrator.
