EMERGENCY RULE: Attorney General, Lateef Fagbemi, blames Fubara, defends Tinubu, Wike

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on Wednesday, fingered the suspended Governor of Rivers State Siminalayi Fubara for being responsible for the political crisis in the oil-rich state.

At a media chat with State House correspondents in Abuja, the AGF said President Bola Tinubu acted timely with his proclamation of emergency rule in Rivers State, the suspension of the governor, and the appointment of a sole administration, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd).

Fagbemi said Fubara demolished the State House of Assembly Complex to avoid being impeached and refused to rebuild it more than one year later.

The justice minister said Fubara failed to implement the February 28, 2025 ruling of the Supreme Court and did not caution militants who had threatened to blow pipelines in the state. “There was not a word dissuading the militant who issued the threats,” he said.

He said the situation could be allowed to continue as the critical economic lifeline of the nation was criminally touched.

Fagbemi also said the emergency rule declaration was some sort of saving grace for Fubara who has been served impeachment notice.

“If that impeachment had been allowed to take its full course, the governor would have entirely lost and completely.

“So, in a way, instead of allowing the impeachment to continue, and which in the end would have seen both the governor and the deputy governor out of office for the entirety of their four-year term with the remainder of what they have — a balance of two years and two months,” the AGF said.

Fagbemi said the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, did not feature in the matter that was decided by the Supreme Court and should not be sentimentally brought into it.

Wike, the immediate-past governor of Rivers State, has been locked in a protracted power tussle with Fubara, his estranged former political godson, for about two years. The apex court had backed the pro-Wike Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.

Fagbemi said Wike should not be brought into the matter as he was not responsible for the actions of Fubara who failed to act in line with the constitutional requirements of getting the approval of the state legislators in the affairs of running the state.

He said, “There are occasions when it comes to national issues, we have to come out plainly and sincerely. Where do you put the Minister of the FCT in this case? Was he the one who asked for the demolition of the House of Assembly?

“Was he the one who said the governor should not present the budget to the House of Assembly? Was he the one who advised the governor not to go through the House of Assembly for purposes of ratifying the commissioner-nominees?

“I don’t know because if you want to look at a case, you look at the facts that have been presented. The Supreme Court made these critical findings. The FCT minister did not feature.

“Assuming he featured, he would have featured on the side of the legislators but what you have here is let everybody go home for the first six months. So, I don’t see his hands here in what we have.”

Fagbemi advised all those who do not agree with the president’s move to channel their energy to the National Assembly to veto the president’s decision.

Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Fubara and his deputy Ngozi Odu; as well as the Rivers State House of Assembly members.

Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he can’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.

The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives has been expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.

However, the emergency rule has been praised by the pro-Nyesom Wike suspended lawmakers, who accused Fubara of contravening the Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.