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[Press Release] The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (Huriwa) has strongly reacted to the recent comments from the governor of the state of suspended rivers, Siminalayi Fubara, suggesting his lack of interest in the return in office, warning that these developments – regardless of the personal arrangement of the governor – could not be normalized in a constitutional democracy.
In a declaration issued, on Monday in Abuja, Huriwa stressed that Nigerian democracy is anchored to the rule of law, the supremacy of the Constitution and to the holiness of the electoral mandates.
The association expressed deep concern about the fact that the disinceline of the governor Fubara was reflected in his public observations at the service of the songs held for the elderly statesman, the head Edwin Clark, could be interpreted badly as acceptance of an illegality and further encourage the anti -conical forces.
At the Port Harcurt event on Sunday, Fubara was mentioned saying: “Don’t you see how much I wait? Do you think I’m interested in this? Do you know even if I want to go back there? My spirit had already left that place long ago.” Huriwa said that while the comments could reflect her personal frustrations, they do not erase the fact that a president in the session has no constitutional powers to suspend a duly elected governor and impose a single administrator on a federal unit.
“We are not responding to the person of the governor Fubara, but to the dangerous implications of what happened in the state of sparrows,” read the declaration. “The president of Nigeria, however powerful his office could be, has no constitutional right to suspend a governor or appoint a military administrator on any state. What has taken place in the state of sparrows is a coup d’etat against the Nigerian constitution.”
Huriwa reiterated that section 180 of the 1999 Constitution clearly states the mandate of a state governor and provides for only three legal courses to remove a governor: resignation, impeachment by the Chamber of the State Assembly through the right trial as required by section 188 or by an order of the court. In no part of the Constitution, said Huriwa, is an authorized president to arbitrarily suspend a state governor or deliver the government to a non -elected appointed.
Once again, the Association stressed that section 11 (4) of the Constitution allows only the national assembly to intervene in the affairs of a state in a moment of breaking of the law and the order, but also this does not allow the president to suspend governors or impose unsuitable administrators. The section provides that the National Assembly can establish laws for peace and order, do not remove or suspend a governor from the office.
“It is a mockery of our constitutional democracy for the federal government to take on a state without a formal declaration of a state of emergency by the national assembly as required by section 305. Even if there is a state of emergency, the law does not give the president to impose a single administrator. The governor’s office is a constitutional creation, he did not say a president”.
The group stated that the public expression of indifference by Fubara on the return to the office should not be misunderstood to legitimize the illegal acquisition of the state of the rivers. Huriwa has invited the Nigerians to see beyond political feelings and focus on the defense of democratic institutions, regardless of personal opinions or affiliations.
“Even if the governor Fubara says he is tired or disinterested, he is not his mandate to discard,” Huriwa continued. “This mandate belongs to the people of the state of the rivers who elected him. No governor can be suspended from the executive Fiat. What we are witnessing is an unconstitutional power of power that must be resisted by all democratic forces.”
Huriwa warned that if this unconstitutional model is allowed to stay in the rivers, it can be replicated in other states, transforming Nigeria into a pseudo-military state governed not by law but by the whims of the central authority. “Today they are rivers. Tomorrow could be another state in which there are political tensions. If the president can wake up and replace an elected governor with a retired naval officer, then what is the meaning of democracy?” He asked for the group.
The Rights Group invited the leadership of the National Assembly-The President of the President Godswill Akpabio and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abba-Nononci all the well-intentioned statists and the high supporters of the Nigerian democracy to speak against what he described as a disturbing authoritarian.
Huriwa has also urged the judiciary to remain vigilant and not become an accomplice in the printed deeds of the rubber that erod the Constitution. The Association has invited the courts to defend the constitutional order and declare this suspension and appointment of only administrators as nulls.
“The Nigerian people must ask for democratic institutions to be respected. The silence of some political actors is dangerous. Democracy dies not only from the state shots but by the silence of those who should speak,” concluded Huriwa.
The Association reiterated its commitment in the defense of democracy and the Constitution, regardless of the affiliations or personalities of the party involved.
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko
National coordinator,
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (Huriwa)
12 May 2025
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