Rivers emergency rule: Ibas isn’t a governor
It was interesting reading through the arguments advanced by my learned brother silk, Chief Joseph Daudu, SAN, in support of the unconstitutional declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu and the subsequent and equally unconstitutional endorsement of the declaration by two-thirds membership of both chambers of the National Assembly.
Daudu tried to justify his position by asserting that no court had ever declared any state of emergency unconstitutional. In other words, we must wait for the courts to make pronouncements on otherwise clear, explicit and self-explanatory provisions of the Constitution in a matter touching on the survival of democracy, justice and rule of law before they can be given their full effect.
But with due deference, the argument rather than venerate fundamental pillars of just and democratic societies and the rule of law, vitiates the very foundation of justice and freedom while subjecting the system to abuse and discretionary exercise of absolute powers culminating in ultimate lawlessness and degeneration.
In his opinion, we have to wait for judicial pronouncements on an impetuous emergency rule with Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), who now wields a monstrous sword of Damocles over our heads here in Rivers State, before the proper things expressly provided for by law can be done. With respect, I do not agree.
My learned brother Silk argued that Goodluck Jonathan’s inability to win the 2015 election was because the former President could not crush the Boko Haram insurrection in the Borno, Yobe and Adamawa axis. Really? But the Daura-born man of valour, who boasted that if voted into power, he would, as a military general, defeat Boko Haram in two weeks-yes, two weeks-vacated Aso Rock as the commander-in-chief after eight years with his head bowed in woe! Who is not aware that more deaths were recorded in the North-East during Buhari’s (eight-year) tenure than in Jonathan’s six? Is it not even worse today that generals contribute money to pay ransom to bandits to free fellow generals abducted from their villages by bloody civilians? Bokkos was raided; women are raped daily; villages are burnt and children are butchered every week.
The truth is that the Rivers State example is a strange state capture, if I may borrow this expression from NADECO (USA). No valid state of emergency was declared by the President. In sacking all the democratic structures in the state, that is, the governor, deputy governor and all members of the House of Assembly, the President merely and successfully executed a bloodless coup d’etat in Rivers State! This is diarchal and so diabolical! 35 states plus Abuja enjoy democratic governance; Rivers State does not, and all operate under the same Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended)!
The presence of Admiral Ibas as sole administrator is an insult to our collective psyche, which no one except those who themselves deserve contempt can throw at us. Ibas himself now acts with so much monstrous audacity in pulling down all democratic strongholds in Rivers State and adorning the political and democratic space and even billboards with his face in military uniform. He has dismantled and dissolved all boards of parastatals and agencies, including the Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council; Rivers State Judicial Service Commission; Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, and so many others, including the governing councils of tertiary institutions in the state. Most of them have fixed constitutional/statutory tenures. He has even reconstituted the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission.
Tinubu’s coup in Rivers is simply a speed bump to democracy comparable to that erected in 1993 by General Sani Abacha in his broadcast dissolving everything democratic and sacking Ernest Shonekan.
But then, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), the President has no power to dissolve democratic institutions or to remove a governor and in his place appoint a sole administrator. Not even the National Assembly can suspend a sitting governor – see Section 11 (4) of the Constitution. Now, the magical half a dozen months’ timeline has also been illegally posted by Senate President Godswill Akpabio in Natasha’s case.
In a matter as sensitive as the declaration of a state of emergency, Section 305 of the Constitution is clear that two-thirds of the members of both chambers of the National Assembly must vote to endorse it or it fails. Not only would the two-thirds be secured to validate the declaration of the state of emergency, but the numbers must also be seen to have been secured.
But the two Behemoths superintending the leaderships of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, out of pure mischief and fraud, obtained their respective two thirds majority via voice votes. Can someone please find out from Akpabio and Abbas how many members voted ‘aye’; how many voted ‘nay’ and how many abstained in the endorsement of the declaration of the two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
My learned brother Silk thinks there has been no case where the courts made pronouncements on the unconstitutional and arbitrary abuse of powers. That may not be correct. The reason is three-fold. Firstly, in Ajuwon vs. Gov., Oyo State [infra], the Supreme Court said inter alia: “That an elected person is not an employee of anybody except the electorate that voted him in. It is only the electorate that can fire him. Democratic elections should always be sacrosanct in this country, like in any other country, for democracy to thrive. Local government chairmen and councilors, being persons duly elected by the people cannot just be removed and their councils dissolved whimsically and arbitrarily by any other elected persons in clear abuse of their office and powers. It is not right in law and under the Constitution to do that.”
And in A.G Lagos State vs. A/G Federation [2004] 18 NWLR (pt. 904) 1; a suit filed by then Bola Tinubu’s government in Lagos State against the Federal Government of Olusegun Obasanjo over the creation of 57 local government councils; Hon. Justice M. L. Uwais, CJN, had this to say (at pages 91 – 92): “It has been argued that the President by virtue of the oath of office, which he took on assumption of office, . . is bound to protect and defend the Constitution.” In addition, the executive powers of the Federation are vested in the President by Section 5 (1) of the Constitution. Such powers extend to the execution and maintenance of the Constitution. This is certainly so, but the question is, does such power extend to the President committing an illegality? Certainly, the Constitution does not and could not have intended that.”
Therefore, the emergency powers do not extend to the President committing an illegality as Tinubu has done in suspending the governor of Rivers State, his deputy and all members of the House of Assembly because such conduct could breed anarchy and totalitarianism, which are antitheses to democracy. As stated by Charles Dickens in his classic, Oliver Twist: “If the law supposes that” said Mr Bumble, “the law is a ass a – idiot (sic).”
Secondly, in 2019, Governor Makinde of Oyo State saw Ajuwon vs. Gov., Oyo State [infra] and his counterpart, Aminu Magari (in 2015) dissolved elected local government councils in their respective states. The Supreme Court wasted no time in declaring such actions as void. My darling friend, Mba Ukweni (now SAN) spoke to the press and, without the clairvoyance of a Hebrew Prophet, said, “Just as the President cannot remove the governors; governors cannot remove democratically elected chairmen and councillors.” President Tinubu scoffed and laughed in derision, having carried out that foreboding. So, it is incorrect that suspension of democratic rule has not come before the court as the learned past president of the bar posited.
In fact, in the recent case of A.G. Federation vs. A.G Abia State [2024] 17 NWLR (pt. 1966) 1 @ 119, a suit filed in the Supreme Court by the AGF himself last year, protesting the illegality and unconstitutionality of dissolving local government councils by state governors, the apex court spoke through Emmanuel Agomaye Agim JSC thus: “The federal governance structure in the 1999 Constitution therefore consists of three tiers, namely, Federal Government, State Government and Local Government. The Constitution requires the government of each tier to be democratically elected…. The government of a local government area other than by a democratically elected council is not in accordance with the 1999 Constitution…. Section 1 (2) of the 1999 Constitution provides that no person or group of persons shall take control of the government of any part of Nigeria contrary to the provisions of the Constitution”. (Underlining added for emphasis that no tier of government can be governed through a sole administrator at the State or local government level). As if to rub more insult to the injury, Ibas is appointing sole administrators to head the 23 local government areas after being encouraged by his own illegal existence in Rivers State.
This is in spite of the admonition by the Supreme Court through the wisdom of Ejembi Eko JSC in Ajuwon vs. Gov., Oyo State [2021] 16 NWLR (pt. 1803) 485 @ 535, thusly: The misconception by state authorities (which must now include Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, an aggregate of illegality, invalidity and unconstitutionality) that the Constitution does not intend to grant and guarantee autonomy to the local government is only a brain wave nurtured by sheer aggrandizement and megalomaniac instinct to conquer and make the Local Government mere parastatals of the State”. (Words in parentheses and underlining are mine, please). Thirdly, just about two months ago, shortly before the inglorious declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the attendant dismantling of all elected officials of the Executive and the Legislature in Rivers State, the Attorney General of the Federation, my call mate, friend and colleague, Chief Lateef Fagbemi SAN had warned state governors against the removal of elected council officials. Fagbemi was addressing the NBA State of the Nation Discourse in Abuja on February 19, 2025. He cautioned that “such acts of removing democratically elected local government officials” (same atrocious act carried out by his principal, President Tinubu and which he turned around to salute and to defend on TV) “was not only treasonable but could have consequences despite the immunity enjoyed by governors.” He added, “We must all remember that we owe a duty to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before our political allegiances.” He further warned lawyers and attorneys-general against allowing their clients to dictate to them.
Meanwhile, in the Rivers example, while addressing the press on the unconstitutional state of emergency and the illegal suspension of elected officials, Fagbemi in “a grotesque U-turn” to quote another commentator, suddenly preferred the coup against Fubara to the constitutionally settled means of impeachment of a governor, which according to our revered AGF was done out of the abundance of the love President Tinubu has for Fubara, same as Pontius Pilate (the Roman Potentate) had for Jesus!
And I ask, what use are elections in this stunted democracy if a man can, by executive fiat, dismantle all democratic structures in a federating unit? Tinubu suspended a sitting governor who validly won an election, like he, Tinubu did! Tinubu suspended members of the House of Assembly who were properly elected by the people. Such impunity and unconstitutionality are alien to the tenets and pristine principles of power sharing in a democracy. That there are no safeguards against such malevolence executed with such a brazen display of impunity, it is sad!!
Already, ominous signs of crises are here with us. In Osun State, All Progressives Congress chairmen have taken over the local governments’ secretariats. Tinubu’s Lagos State was battling with two speakers of the House of Assembly. Yet, there is no state of emergency in those states. In Ondo State, farmers are on the run while bandits have seized a military base somewhere in the North. In Edo State, extrajudicial killing of travelling hunters by vigilantes has kept Governor Monday Okpebholo extending his fasting this Lenten season. In Anka, Zamfara State, over 10 people were killed by bandits in one week in March alone. Do I need to say more? Was this not indeed a country (apologies to our late literary icon, Chinua Achebe)? In Plateau State today, there is a Constitutional aversion to peace and a strong disposition to maim, kill and destroy. Banditry and kidnapping have plateaued in the Middle Belt; yet, there is no state of emergency in that part of Nigeria!
A simple provision in Section 305 of the Constitution has been misinterpreted with so much finesse and ease by lawyers who dress the harmless section with a stress it ought not possess that I recall Art Buchwald when he vulgarly mused: “It is not the bad lawyers who are screwing up the justice system in this country. It is the good lawyers.”
And I join Harry Bender to wonder if so much misinterpretation could come from senior lawyers over Section 305 of the Constitution. “Imagine,” said he, “the appeals and dissents if lawyers had written the Ten Commandments.”
Constitutional frameworks do not admit of totalitarianism, authoritarianism and despotism as we are witnessing under President Tinubu in his suspension of elected officials in Rivers. It makes mockery of democracy and free choice. That indeed is the curse of the elective system in this country.
Mbok, how did Ibok get sworn in as a sole administrator on borrowed robes and rhyme from the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution? The aberration can be likened to asking a bishop to swear to tell the truth using the Fenibeso Shrine of Okrika or the Amadioha juju of Ndigbo. Is it not tragic?
Surely, the dance step of Ibas is not six months! Such impudence. With the swagger of an ultimate undertaker for President Tinubu, his body language in systematically demolishing everything democratically installed, Ete is silently playing an encore on one prayer point; namely, that there should be some strife (since he confirmed there was none when he arrived) so his emergency rule would be extended and justified. But like King Herod waited in vain for the three wise men from the East to return to announce the location of Jesus so he could pounce, I can bet my left arm that Ibas will wait in vain for the justification of his complicity in the “state capture of Rivers State”. By threatening to present his budget to himself, one recalls the story told by Francis Bacon, First and only Viscount of St. Alban, K.C., English lawyer, jurist, philosopher, statesman, scientist, author (1561-1626): when Philip, father of Alexander passed a sentence against a prisoner at a time he was drowsy and seemed to give small attention. The prisoner after hearing of the sentence, screamed, “I appeal.” The King somewhat bemused, asked, “To whom do you appeal?” The prisoner answered: “From Philip when he gave no ear to Philip when he shall give ear.” Ibas intends to present the budget as a governor while adorned in military uniform to himself as speaker and member of the House of Assembly dressed in civilian clothes!
The malodorous practices and chicanery in high places put Ibas above everyone, including the now-infamous George Nwaekesque episode last month, where the former head of service of Rivers State displayed his incompetence as an upcoming Nollywood actor. The mediocrity of that episode could not be concealed by the fright on the faces of the movie directors, who were excitedly talking in hushed voices which everyone heard. The movie was so badly scripted that it gave failure a bad name to the point that one would think Nwaeke was reading from a teleprompter through a blindfold.
Nwaeke acted with so much odious plasticity in carelessly trying to separate obvious truths from falsehood that you would think his ancestors witnessed the parting of the Red Sea.
But as the Jewish saying goes, that show of shame which lasted a few minutes, has left ripples that would last a long time and perhaps, generations, forever – Exodus 20: 5-6.
The removal of the governor and his deputy in Rivers, along with members of the state House of Assembly, is clearly senseless and an affront to a civilised setting. The relentless efforts of the retired naval officer show he is enjoying the moment and that he loves power but will not contest any election; he is content to wait at the sidelines for a bloodless coup to frighten Rivers’ indigenes and take over democratic governance!
This state of emergency in all circumstances of the case was invalidly declared in Rivers State. To sack all authorities and powers elected in the state since 2023 is taking insolence too far. It is unconstitutional and so null and void. If Ibas desires to live in a government house, he should be bold enough to contest an election in Cross River State. He should not hide behind the façade in Rivers State to enjoy long-throated ease. “Ambition should be made of sterner stuff,” says Shakespeare. A caretaker should work hard to build his own house and not wish the landlord death to enable him to take over the man’s property as Ibas has done and is still doing here.
Ibas is a mere butterfly and so cannot act like a bird. He should be humble enough to appreciate this solemn truth! A man without locus, Ibas is even asking the NBA to return money, a democratically elected governor, who has the mandate of the people, paid out, as if he were with God when the heavens and earth were created. This man suffers from what we call niggling meddlesomeness and which psychologists call status anxiety. In an article now circulating on social media, it was stated that the Yorubas have a saying that the ear that heard “go” must also hear “come”. Ibas whose ear heard “come” to Rivers State, should also hear “go” out from Rivers State.
To conclude, let me give kudos to the indefatigable and proactive President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN for being alive to his responsibilities in moving the Annual Bar Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu, our beautiful coal city, which is under a democratic governance!
•Abereton (SAN) of the Pelman Chambers writes from Port Harcourt
