A top member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has slammed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it an unconstitutional move to oust Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
In a fiery statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, Eze accused Tinubu of acting in bad faith by suspending Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly while sparing the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, whom he described as the “mastermind of the political crisis.”
He challenged Tinubu’s justification for the move, arguing that Section 305 of the Constitution does not empower the President to remove elected officials.
“There is nowhere in Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution that allows the suspension or removal of a sitting governor. Even former President Goodluck Jonathan, during his 2013 emergency rule in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, did not remove the governors,” Eze pointed out.
He further accused the President of placing oil revenue above national security, questioning why no emergency rule was declared in states plagued by terrorism and violence.
“Since Tinubu assumed office, countless Nigerians have died from terrorist attacks, herdsmen invasions, and economic hardship. Yet, no state of emergency was declared. But the moment oil facilities were at risk, he acted swiftly,” Eze alleged.
The APC chieftain claimed that Wike, after failing to use defected lawmakers to impeach Fubara, influenced Tinubu into “illegally removing a duly elected governor.”
“This is not about governance—it is about power and control. Rivers people will not sit back and allow their democracy to be hijacked.”
Eze reminded Tinubu of his own opposition to Jonathan’s emergency rule in 2013, when he called it a “dangerous trend in governance.”
He urged the National Assembly, governors, and all democratic stakeholders to reject what he termed an illegal power grab before it sets a dangerous precedent.
