Photo: Mr. Jide Ojo
Pius Nsabe
A development expert, Mr Jide Ojo, has told the Journal Nigeria that the seven governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who have filed a suit against President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly at the Supreme Court over the suspension of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and his Deputy, Ngozi Odu, have a strong case.
According to him, while the President has the powers under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as amended to declare a State of Emergency in any state, he goofed by suspending elected officials as there was no law that backed such an action.
While acknowledging that it was within the power of the President to declare a State of Emergency in troubled states, he, however, noted that the seven PDP governors could capitalize on some of the constitutional errors by the President to get justice for Fubara and the PDP.
He also faulted what he called the hasty decision by the President without adequately applying a political solution like he did during the Assembly crisis in Lagos State, wondering why the President, who once served as a senator would not have recognized the limits of his powers.
Ojo, a renowned public affairs analyst and columnist with the Punch Newspaper, told The Journal Nigeria’s Pius Nsabe during a telephone interview that the President also made a constitutional blunder by sidelining the National Assembly in the nationwide broadcast where he declared the State of Emergency in Rivers State, saying the President shouldn’t have arrogated the power of lawmaking for Rivers State which now belongs to the National Assembly to the Federal Executive Council while the emergency rule lasts. He noted that such unexpected errors exposed the capabilities of the legal team of the presidency.
Speaking on the endorsement of the emergency rule in Rivers State by the National Assembly, Ojo berated the lawmakers for resorting to voice votes in a serious constitutional matter where individual votes should play a significant role in determining the outcome. He described the move as political, saying the lawmakers were only protecting their 2027 ambition.
Asked what he thought about the Sole Administrator, Ibok Ete-Ibas’ directive to heads of local government in Rivers State to produce a two-year financial report, the development expert argued that the Sole Administrator had no such powers, saying only the councillors and not even the governors have the powers to give such a directive.
He advised the Administrator to focus on peace building as his primary assignment. Ojo, however, noted that Ibas started on a good note by visiting traditional rulers and key stakeholders in the state, encouraging him to continue in that trajectory.
