El-Rufai to Tinubu: You’ve no justification for suspending Fubara, others

…wants Tinubu to restore Fubara, other suspended Rivers elected officials

Former Kaduna State governor and chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Nasir El-Rufai, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconsider his decision to suspend elected officials in his emergency rule declaration in Rivers State. 

Tribune Online reports that the President, during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, declared a state of emergency in Rivers over a protracted political crisis while also suspending the governor, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy; and members of the state assembly.

El-Rufai, in a statement released via his personal X account on Wednesday, said the action was wrong, adding that the justifications summoned by the Tinubu-led government in their defence fell flat. 

According to the former governor, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), the Nigerian constitution does support such suspension by the president, saying, “It is dangerous to our system of democratic federalism for an elected president to assume and exercise powers to suspend elected officials at the state level.”

While acknowledging that the security issues cited by Tinubu in his nationwide broadcast deserve most serious attention and sustained efforts to contain the threats and preserve vital national infrastructure, El-Rufai posited that the military could have been supported to deliver such responsibility successfully through a state of emergency that does not require suspending elected officials.

He said, “There are things that are so clearly wrong that the justifications summoned in their defence fall flat. The decision of Mr. President to suspend the elected officials of the Rivers State Government is one of those. Our country’s Constitution does not support it precisely because it is dangerous to our system of democratic federalism for an elected president to assume and exercise powers to suspend elected officials at the State level. The responsibilities of a president are heavy and extensive, but they are constrained by the Constitution and the law and certainly do not include firing persons who were elected.

“The security issues cited in the President’s speech surely deserve the most serious attention and sustained efforts to contain the threats and preserve vital national infrastructure. That is a duty that we ought to vigorously support the security agencies to successfully discharge. A state of emergency could surely have been proclaimed to grant the relevant security agencies the extraordinary powers and necessary resources to enable them to address the problem. Extending the provisions of such an emergency regime to include the dismantling of democratic structures is a wanton aggression against democratic tenets and the rule of law. The Supreme Court has conclusively declared the suspension of elected officials unlawful in the Dariye vs.Attorney General of the Federation.”

Continuing, El-Rufai reminded the President that he was once a critic of the former President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration when he declared a state of emergency in the North-East.

According to him, Tinubu criticised Jonathan even when the latter did not suspend elected officials in those states. 

“It is my view that Mr. President should review this decision and return to the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. As an opposition figure, Senator Bola Tinubu had made his voice heard against the decision of then President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in the North-East, even when that decision did not extend to the suspension of elected officials and institutions. A similar reconsideration is warranted in this case to contain the damage done to the people of Rivers State, and restore the Federal Government to compliance with the Constitution.

“Let us not keep silent while the slippery slope of replicating the events of emergency rule in the old Western Region in 1962 unfold before our very eyes. I appeal to all patriots and voices of reason to join in calling an end to this gross violation of the Constitution and disrespect for the rule of law,” El-Rufai further stated. 

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