Rivers Crisis: Kenneth Okonkwo Calls on Tinubu to Extend Fubara’s Term

Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s term should be extended, according to suggestions made by veteran Nollywood actor and politician Kenneth Okonkwo.
In an interview with Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television program, Okonkwo reportedly stated this on Monday in response to inquiries.

In response to the suspension of Rivers State’s state of emergency and the reinstatement of suspended Fubara, his deputy, and State Assembly members, Okonkwo stated that the governor need to file a lawsuit to extend his term.

Instead of shortening Fubara’s term, the movie star believes Tinubu should prolong it.

This has nothing to do with upsetting the person who issued the state of emergency, he stated. The fact that Rivers voters elected Fubara to a four-year term has something to do with the constitution.

And the Supreme Court has ruled that the four years are inviolable. They had staggered elections as a result. He has now had his six months taken away from him unlawfully, cruelly, and without cause. In other words, you have deprived the Rivers people of the four years that the Constitution entitled them to have the governor serve them.

The Constitution’s Section 180(2) makes it very evident that the post has a four-year tenure. As a result, four years after taking office, the governor leaves his position. He will have missed four years of service if he departs by May 29, 2027.

What I’m trying to convey is that he has the right to ask the court for the six months to be added to his sentence. Indeed, in the event that law and order is disrupted, a state of emergency requires a six-month postponement of elections.

Therefore, if Tinubu claimed that law and order had broken down—which is obviously untrue—he should prolong his term by six months rather than shorten it.

Therefore, I’m stating that the Rivers people have the right to have Fubara serve them for four years, and that Fubara has the constitutional right to seek remedy over his term of office. He was elected for that reason. I believe his term should expire on November 29, 2027.