According to lawyer Liborous Oshoma, President Bola Tinubu had other options before suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara in the wake of the Rivers State issue.
Tinubu could have proclaimed the emergency without dismissing elected officials, according to Oshoma.
Shortly after President Tinubu withdrew the emergency rule on Wednesday, Oshoma made the case that the declaration was unjust and superfluous in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“In Rivers, the president can impose a state of emergency without dismissing the state’s legitimately elected administration. Without overthrowing a democratically elected government, you may still send the army, police, and DSS to the state to keep the peace,” he stated.
He emphasized that comparable conflicts exist in other states and underlined that the Rivers situation was not unique.
“The political crisis we observe in general is not any different from the crisis in Rivers State. Oshoma pointed out that Rivers State’s situation was so out of control that the governor forbade members of the House of Assembly from sitting.
He went on to say that the six-month suspension of democratic administration in Rivers State has not taught political players any lessons.
The politicians haven’t learned anything, in my opinion. We have witnessed it occur in a PDP state today because the former governor has one leg in the APC and one in the PDP, making it simple,” Oshoma stated.
Recall that on March 18, Tinubu dismissed Rivers State House of Assembly members, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, claiming that political infighting had crippled the legislature.
He used Section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to install retired Naval Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the state administrator.
Critics characterized the proclamation as a power grab, while many concerned Nigerians denounced it as unlawful.
Oshoma went on to say that the ruling revealed partisanship.
“I will say that there is fairness across the board if this had occurred in an APC state where there is a state of emergency and what appears to be a crisis between the governor and the House of Assembly,” he remarked.
