Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, the former Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) National Publicity Secretary, has denounced President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of emergency in Rivers State.
According to reports, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the House of Assembly were suspended by President Tinubu on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the former PANDEF spokesperson accused President Tinubu of going above his authority in an interview with News Central.
Sara-Igbe contended that the President was not authorized by the Constitution to dismiss Governor Fubara. According to him, the President’s partiality against Fubara was evident from the start.
He claimed that because Wike refused to withdraw his appeal, but Fubara did so on the President’s advice, the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Rivers State crisis supported Nyesom Wike.
From the start, it is clear that Mr. President has a predisposition toward the state’s governor. I stated firmly that he initially provided us an unfair deal, which he then made the governor follow. The Governor clearly followed the president’s orders, but Nyesome Wike also disobeyed the president. Additionally, the Governor retracted all of his court cases because Nyesom Wike disobeyed the President and the Governor complied with the President. Nyesom Wike declined to drop his legal battles. Nyesom Wike outperformed Fubara as a result. As if that weren’t enough, the Supreme Court ruled against the government of Sim and Rivers State based on that withdrawal.
“Mr. President, PANDEF insisted that we travel to Sim in order to establish a Supreme Court when they visited him. However, the Sim has already consented to carry out a Supreme Court ruling. He claimed that the same characters were refusing to follow a Supreme Court ruling.
He asked why the President suspended Governor Fubara, whom he lacked the authority to suspend, but declined to suspend the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, whom he was authorized to suspend.
The President’s sincerity in declaring a state of emergency was criticized by the Niger Delta Stateman. He went on to say that Wike’s ally was the only administrator hired.
“It is improper for Mr. President to proclaim a state of emergency under Section 305 when there are no issues in Rivers State. However, once more, Mr. President is not authorized to remove an elected governor or even a council member under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as modified. According to the 1999 Constitution as amended, he does not have that authority. He declared his belief in the rule of law. Do you refer to this as the rule of law? To appease Nyesom Wike, he removed the governor of River State by abusing his office and going above his bounds.
“Let’s examine it with objectivity. Nyesom Wike and Sim should be fighting. He still has Nyesom Wike in his cabinet. Would you mind suspending him? You would have suspended Nyesom Wike if you wanted peace. However, he suspended Sim, who was elected, and retained Nyesom Wike. You couldn’t dismiss Nyesom Wike, who he appointed.
He urged Nyesom Wike to visit River State last week with the army, police, navy, air force, and other security forces. with the intention of declaring a state of emergency in the hopes that the populace will respond. That didn’t work. Oh, we have the authority to proclaim a state of emergency, they thought as they just slept over. Additionally, he said, “They brought someone who everyone knows has been photographed with Wike as the sole administrator.”
