NBA demands a reversal of emergency rules in the river

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the transfer of the governor of the river state, Siminaayi Fubara by the President of Bola Tinubu.

The agency describes the declaration of an emergency in an oil -rich country as an incomplete and urged the president to reverse the decision and return the governor to the office.

The controversy followed the Declaration of President Tinubu about the emergency at the Rivers State on Tuesday.

The President suspects the governor, his deputy, and all members of the State Council of the Assembly in the midst of the deeper political crisis in the state.

Instead, Tinubu appointed a former Navy Chief of Staff, Ibok-Ete Iba as the only administrator of the NBA state-states insisted not to have a constitutional basis.

Speaking of Sunday politics, NBA President Afam Osigwe reiterated the attitude of the association that the transfer of fubara and the installation of a single administrator violated the 1999 constitution. He stressed that such actions were dangerous precedents for Nigerian democracy.

“That is our belief, and that is what we expect from the president. To return the fubara to power, after inadequate constitutional to delete it,” Osigwe said.

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“The constitution does not recognize a single administrator as a legitimate occupant of a government building in the state of Rivers. Even when I see it (IBA) takes an oath of office, I wondered which oath, because it was an oath that was unknown to the constitution.”

Osigwe, a senior Nigerian (SAN) advocate, equalizes the handling of the government's crisis using Palu Godam to treat headaches. He argues that the steps taken are excessive, undemocratic, and in the end are not constitutional.

The position of the NBA directly challenges the claim that the President acts in the provisions of Article 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which regulates the declaration of emergencies. Some legal experts argue that the section contains ambiguity that Tinubu may be relied on, but Osigwe firmly rejects this idea.

“I do not believe part 305 is unclear,” he said. “I just believe that we deliberately refused to apply it like that.”

While the National Assembly has approved an emergency in the state of Rivers, Osigwe insisted that legislative support did not legitimize non -constitutional actions.

“The approval of parliament members is like placing something on anything. That can't stand it,” he said.

Beyond legal concerns, Osigwe stressed that the crisis in the state of Rivers is basically political and requires political resolution rather than a drastic executive intervention.

“The problem in the state of Rivers is politics, and only the political solution will end,” he said.

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