RIVERS: Ex-presidential spokesman reveals Tinubu’s impeachable offences by his emergency rule declaration

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“Section 188 of the Constitution spells out how a governor can be removed from office. A governor cannot be removed from office by proclamation of the president of Nigeria. He can only be removed if there is gross misconduct as put as an allegation by the House of Assembly and then the CJ (Chief Judge) is advised to form a panel of reasonable people of distinguished qualities in the state. And if that panel now decides within the purview of Section 188 that those allegations are wrong, that will put an end to that proceeding.”

Erudite journalism veteran and former Special Adviser Media and Publicity to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010-2015), Dr. Reuben Abati, has lent his voice to the conversation on Rivers State political crisis, with a view to listing those impeachable offences that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu committed by his Tuesday night declaration of a state of emergency sacking the democratically elected government of Sir Siminalayi Fubara, over a crisis that his minister, Nyesom Wike, is believed to have caused.

Dr. Abati, while reviewing the development after which soldiers were said to have been deployed to occupy the Government House in Port Harcourt in implementation of his pronouncement, pointed out that President Tinubu had violated provisions of the Constitution by ever making attempt to remove an elected state governor, his deputy and legislature in breach of the law.

Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Wednesday March 19, 2025, the columnist hopes that the National Assembly would have the courage either to reject the president’s emergency proclamation or proceed to impeaching him from office as president of Nigeria for those infractions of the Constitution that he has committed, wondering how with the kind of distinguished lawyer he has as his Attorney General of the Federation, Tinubu would be so wrongly advised to commit such infractions or violations of the same Constitution he took oath to protect and defend.

Abati, who said Tinubu has no such powers to remove Governor Fubara or any of those others, asked the former Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas he appointed as sole administrator of Rivers State to issue a press statement as a matter of urgency to reject the appoint regardless of motivations involved and declare that he would not be part of the violations of the Constitutions.

He knocked the president’s claim of using the provision of Section 305 of the Constitution, saying the section he hinged his action upon does not even given him such powers, even if the situation in Rivers falls under those conditions, which he doubted.

According to Dr. Reuben Abati, “Let me first come in from an interpretation of the Constitution, which the President himself highlighted, he said he was acting within the purview of Section 305.

“Section 305 of the Constitution explains the circumstances under which the President SHALL declare a state of emergency and the conditions are properly stated in a threat of war or imminent war. Is Nigeria facing a threat of war in Rivers State? That’s one question.

“It also talks about a situation whereby something could happen in any part of the federation where Nigeria could find itself in a chaotic situation. The president is required to act.

“Number three, where the governor in that particular state does not immediately respond to the crisis situation and does not approach the president to act in the national interest.

“So those conditions are properly spelt out. However, that same Section 305 says that the President will give a proclamation, which will gazette and then will go to the National Assembly and the National Assembly, if it’s in session with 48 hours, will act and if it’s in recess within 10 days will act.

“If the National Assembly does not consider that particular gazetted proclamation valid, then it will vote otherwise; two-third majority of the two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and if that happens, the decision is abated.

“Let me now say that in Section 305 which the president quoted is the operative principle. Now let’s look at what the president said.

“I think that the president has violated the Constitution even within the purview of Section 305 and he has violated the Constitution because he was not properly advised to respect that section of the Constitution.

“In what regard did he violate that section of the Constitution? In fact he acted as a dictator by saying that the administrator that he has appointed can make regulations and laws will be made for the Rivers State House of Assembly henceforth by the Federal Executive Council.

“The Federal Executive Council does not have such powers. Section 11 of the same Constitution says that, “Look” when there is a state of emergency, it’s only the National Assembly that can make laws for a state House of Assembly.

“Now President Tinubu has appropriated unto himself the powers to make laws for the Rivers State House of Assembly. That is an impeachable offence.

“I don’t know whether the National Assembly will have the courage either to reject his gazetted proclamation or to proceed on an issue of impeachment against him for violating the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now, the other relevant provisions of the Constitution is Section 188.

“Section 188 of the Constitution spells out how a governor can be removed from office. A governor cannot be removed from office by proclamation of the president of Nigeria. He can only be removed if there is gross misconduct as put as an allegation by the House of Assembly and then the CJ (Chief Judge) is advised to form a panel of reasonable people of distinguished qualities in the state.

“And if that panel now decides within the purview of Section 188 that those allegations are wrong, that will put an end to that proceeding. The president has not followed that. He has acted unilaterally. Section 1(2) of the same Constitution says that “This country called Nigeria cannot be governed except by the provisions of the Constitution.”

“There is no provision in the 1999 Constitution that says that the president of Nigeria can unilaterally remove a governor, remove the deputy governor, remove the legislature of a state in Nigeria. That gain proves that this is a violation of the Constitution, which is to say that who advised the president?

“The people who advise the president must be called to order. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) is a very distinguished lawyer. I don’t understand how Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) arrived at this advice.

“And I also say that Retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas, if he is a patriot and a citizen, he must reject this appointment making him sole administrator of Rivers State because, it is wrong appointment and his own integrity has been called to order. Whatever may be the motivations, he must act as a citizen and issue a statement forthwith to say that he will not be party to the violation of the Constitution.

Their arguments

“Now, what argument are they putting up? It has been said that, “Oh, Obasanjo did this when he was president. After all he removed (Joshua) Dariye in Plateau, he removed (Ayodele) Fayose in Ekiti.”

“Look, at that time Akin Olujimi (SAN), who was Attorney-General, was relying on the 1960 Constitution. The explanation he offered that 1960 Constitution and the State of Emergency Act of 1961 allowed the Federal Government to remove a governor or remove a legislature.

“Now, he was wrong because, at the time he was making that statement, the operative law in Nigeria was 1999 Constitution. So, Akin Olujimi saying that it was 1960 Constitution, 1961 Declaration of State of Emergency Act was just using political expediency to justify the illegality that President Obasanjo engaged in.

“And people who are quoting the Obasanjo precedence must realise that an armed robber cannot say that because one armed robber got away with it, so he also has a right to commit armed robbery. That is wrong.

Jonathan never removed governor, others

“The second point that I will like to make again, with due respect, is that people have been referring to the Jonathan period that Jonathan declared state of emergency in about three states of the federation: Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

“That argument has been settled by Mohammed Bello Adoke, who was Attorney-General of that time, in his book, “The Burden of Service”. I don’t remember the pages, but as the reviewer of that book, I reviewed that book on the back page of ThisDay.

“I recall that Mohammed Bello Adoke argued that there is nowhere in the Constitution, 1999 Constitution, that the president is empowered is empowered to remove a state governor or remove a sitting House of Assembly and that was why, under President Jonathan, no governor was removed, no deputy governor was removed, no state House of Assembly was sacked, no Local Government Chairman was even removed in those three states.

“So, the people who are just making argument about precedence, they are speaking out of ignorance and I recommend Adoke’s book for them to find that explanation,” Dr. Abati said.