According to veteran Nollywood actor and politician Kenneth Okonkwo, President Bola Tinubu ought to prolong Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s term.
According to reports, Okonkwo made this statement on Monday in response to inquiries during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program.
Speaking about the suspension of Rivers State’s state of emergency and the reinstatement of Fubara, his deputy, and State Assembly members who had been suspended, Okonkwo advised the governor to file a lawsuit to extend his term.
The movie celebrity believes that Tinubu ought to prolong rather than shorten Fubara’s term.
“This has nothing to do with upsetting whoever issued the emergency declaration,” he stated. The fact that Fubara was chosen by the Rivers people to represent them for four years has anything to do with the constitution.
Additionally, the Supreme Court has deemed the four years to be inviolable. They had a staggered election because of this. His six months have now been unlawfully, cruelly, and senselessly taken away from him. This indicates that you have deprived the Rivers people of the four years that the Constitution granted them to have the governor serve them.
Additionally, Section 180(2) of the Constitution makes it very evident that the office has a four-year term. As a result, the governor leaves office four years after taking office. He will therefore have been out of service for four years if he departs by May 29, 2027.
In other words, he has the right to ask the court for redress in order to have the six months added to his sentence. If law and order breaks down, you actually have to postpone elections for six months after declaring a state of emergency.
Therefore, Tinubu must prolong his term by six months rather than shorten it if he claimed that law and order had broken down, which is obviously untrue.
According to the Constitution, Fubara is entitled to seek remedy regarding his tenure of office, and the Rivers people are entitled to have Fubara serve them for four years. They chose him for that reason. His term should, in my judgment, expire on November 29, 2027.
