There was a lone voice in the House of Representatives on Thursday. It was showing the way, telling the truth and asking them to choose life. That voice asked his colleagues to make straight the path of representative democracy and take to the prescriptions of the 1999 constitution as they were about to act upon the letter written to them by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the crisis in Rivers State. That lone voice was that of Obi Aguocha, a man from Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal constituency of Abia State. He was the only one that not only voiced his concern about a palpable rupture of the Nigerian constitution in the matter, but one that also felt that their consciences might not be in good standing whenever their ratification of President Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State would be reviewed.
The lone voice recommended thus: “Since the president’s letter concerns proclamation, the constitutional procedures must be followed as enshrined in Section 305(6) b. It says for us to consider the president’s request, that this House must have 2/3 of members present. Mr. Speaker this is a constitutional matter. Can we do a headcount to ascertain that we have a quorum, to ascertain that we have our constitutional requirement?” The Speaker, in an interjectory response, said the House would rather rely on their attendance register for the day, and that members were still arriving. “We already have our attendance register Honourable colleague and we will rely on that. Our attendance register will guide us accordingly,” Speaker Tajudeen Abass told him. But pushing further, Aguocha said: “Can that be made available now for the members to know whether we have formed a quorum as enshrined in the constitution so that our deliberations are not going to be based on illegality.” Aguocha’s point of order was not popular, it was delaying the executioner, and it was irksome to both his eager colleagues and, perhaps the powers-that-be.
Obi Aguocha was drowned with his lone voice in the spontaneous din that rose at the denouement of his argument on that ‘point of order’ in their House. This was during their debate on and consideration of the state of emergency declared in Rivers State by President Tinubu on Tuesday. The voices of his numerous colleagues easily swallowed Aguocha’s. More importantly, the super-imposing pronouncement of the Speaker of the House, Honourable Tajudeen Abass, put paid to his point of order. The responses killed his argument and also readily swallowed his position. Although he knew that the outcome of the day’s sitting and his point of order were a fait accompli, he was resolute in making his point. Aguocha made his point and successfully passed his message because as they say, the minority had his say but the majority had their way. He also worked hard to ensure that he showed no disrespect so as not to end up in the type of vale that swallowed Kogi’s Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan in the Senate.
Rep Aguocha, at the business of the House of Representatives on Thursday, stood like a metaphor. He represented what many Nigerians had expected to happen in Rivers State… Do that which you wish to do about Rivers State but do it in such a way that it would not leave us with constitutional gaps to ruminate over. But, like many other things about governance and the extant politics of Nigeria, this very matter has been added to a host of other actions that those who know have said are not in tandem with the provisions of the Nigerian constitution.
Some moralists have gone as far as digging up the reaction of this same Tinubu when he was one of the top leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). He gave an opinion and made assertions on state of emergency when Goodluck Jonathan, as president, declared emergency in three northern states in 2013. Tinubu had described emergency rule as untenable, and said it was an attempt to break the limbs of democratic rule in our country. The three affected northern states Jonathan acted upon were known to have been ravaged by insecurity…. And acute insecurity in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe was still festering, but it was opposed, even as the then president did not suspend the governors.
Tinubu said the country was “witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.” He had called on “those who love this country genuinely (to) advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates of these governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path to take.” He had added in that statement thus: “Any measures put in place which alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives, should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right-thinking person in the country.”
Based on the beautiful argument of Tinubu of 2013, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), through its president, Afam Osigwe, said it was “gravely concerned” especially about the suspension of the governor of Rivers State, his deputy, and the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. The NBA argued that “the 1999 Constitution does not grant the president the power to remove an elected governor, deputy governor, or members of a state’s legislature under the guise of a state of emergency.” The lawyers’ body said “a declaration of emergency does not automatically dissolve or suspend elected state governments. The Constitution does not empower the president to unilaterally remove or replace elected officials – such actions amount to an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a fundamental breach of Nigeria’s federal structure.” They agreed that there is tension in Rivers State, but also noted that “the situation in Rivers State, though politically tense, does not meet the constitutional threshold for the removal of elected officials.”
However, today the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), will have none of such contentions. In fact, entertaining arguments as the above, which was once held by Tinubu, have faded in the thoughts of the decision-makers’ of today. Chief Fagbemi, as the chief law officer of the country knows his onions and he has earned his flowers. He said apart from the powers the president earned from the provisions of Section 308 of the constitution, President Tinubu’s action had also provided the people of Rivers State, especially the warring parties, an opportunity to reflect, look inwards and make the state a cozy haven for the Rivers electorate.
What Aguocha called the attention of his colleagues to at the sitting of the House could still not have stopped the inevitable endorsement of the declaration already done by President Tinubu. Their taking to his advice would also not have prevented the House of Representatives from doing what they were determined to do. But heeding him would have brought them to doing it without following a crooked path. Thus, the House of Representatives showed us one crude way of welcoming Nigeria to Tinubu’s Rivers State.
The Senate, expectedly, has also given the same endorsement of the declaration of the president. There too, there was a Seriake Dickson who reminded his colleagues in the upper legislative chamber that they were progressing in error. But his dissension was preempted because he had earlier gone public to say he would not support the action of the Senate on the emergency rule. There was no one in the country who would have expected the current Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to have done otherwise. Not now. Not in the immediate future.
So, welcome to Tinubu’s Rivers State. Sit back, relax and make of the trip whatever you will. It is expected to last for a period of six months. But the Senate has hinted that it could be renewed for another six months maximum… Meanwhile, remember that while this ride lasts, there are no representative democratic structures in place there. Only the appointee of the President and Commander-in-Chief is in charge. He does not report to the people of the state, he reports to the man who appointed him. The man is a soldier and as you might have seen, his aide-de-camp is always in full military uniform. It is not a farce that we must expand our frontiers and gain new territories. Perhaps one of the easiest ways to achieve this is by a presidential fiat as we saw Tinubu deliver wrapped with sections of our constitution. Enjoy Tinubu’s Rivers State while it lasts.
And for those urging the country on as it descends dangerously, this Yiddish proverb should serve as food for thought: “Old age to the unlearned is winter; to the learned, harvest time.”
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