The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Roy Nweze has urged Nigerians to eschew the expression of emotions and sentiments while judging the actions of President Bola Tinubu.
The SAN was reacting to the 6months of suspension of Governor Fubara by Tinubu, adding that the declaration of a state of emergency in the affected state seeks to restore normalcy.
Nweze, a constitutional sound lawyer with many years of experience and practice made this known while reacting to the increasing crisis, destruction of valuable properties and waste of human lives in River State.
He, however, tasked those criticizing the action of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in River State to eschew the expression of emotions and sentiments while judging the actions of the president.
"I want to say that nobody is saying that the president does not have the power to declare a state of emergency in any state if an extraordinary situation arises. What some people are saying is that, yes, the president has the power to declare a state of emergency but that in making such a declaration he should not suspend the governor of the state, the deputy governor and members of the house of assembly. I think that's exactly what people are saying.
"Nobody is doubting the fact that section 305 of the 1999 constitution as amended gives the president the power to declare a state of emergency in any state and then to approach the national assembly for ratification of the declaration if they see it fit. He has to approach them within two days from the date of the making of the declaration if the national assembly is in session, but if the national assembly is not in session, then within 10 days. And I know he has already contacted the national assembly and they intend to consider the declaration tomorrow.
"So the issue that is bothering most people, especially lawyers, is the couching of the provisions of section 305 of the 1999 constitution. That section actually tends to create doubts as to whether, in the declaration of a state of emergency, the president can or cannot suspend the governor of a state, his deputy and the members of the House of Assembly.
"Now those who are making categorical statements that the president cannot suspend or can suspend the state electees, of course they know within themselves that they cannot stand their feet and say that they are too sure of what they are saying because what they are individually saying is either based on mere conjecture or downright.it's a case of downright grandstanding or it may be politics or it may be expression of emotions or sentiments.
The senior Advocate of Nigeria, Nweze further noted that the declaration of a state of emergency by the President pertains to the existence of an extraordinary situation, an abnormal situation which the declaration seeks to arrest to restore normalcy.
"Now it may sometimes happen that the people who are causing this, the people who are responsible for the declaration of a state of emergency may be the people who are in office like the governor, the deputy governor, the house of assembly members as is clearly the case in River State.
"So, now the question will be since a declaration of a state of emergency involves the restriction of rights, if the governor, the deputy governor and the House of Assembly members are not suspended, how would whoever is going to handle the security situation go-ahead to handle it because the governor is still having his immunity to do anything he likes within the state but when you remove, when you now suspend him, it means he no longer has that immunity. So the extent that he can go on doing whatever he was doing before now, would be limited or restricted.
"Now we are dealing with a state where the governor and the House of Assembly members have been having problems since 2023 or thereabouts. Now, this problem culminated in the burning of the state House of Assembly. Now, there is a video in circulation where the governor told the youths that when it would be needed for them to act, he would tell them. Now the question then is whether the present acts of blowing up oil pipelines and gas pipelines those youths have actually not been instructed.
Speaking on the constitutional rights of the President to declare a state of emergency in River State, Nweze said: "I am saying that there is no way the president will arrest the situation in River State without suspending the governor and the house of Assembly. I don't believe in sentiments. The law has to be said the way it ought to be said because in the interpretation of law,, you must take so many things into consideration.
"As I said before, the declaration of a state of emergency means that there exists an abnormal set of affairs that will need to be dealt with in some extraordinary ways. The need for the application of those extraordinary ways to deal with the situation is what underlies the essence of the declaration of a state of emergency. So whether the state governor and his deputy and House of Assembly members would remain in their offices or should be suspended would depend largely on whether they are remaining in their offices would hamper or assist in the resolution of the abnormal situation that led to the declaration of the state of emergency.
He recalled that "In 2002, the governor, the deputy governor, and the state house of assembly members were removed in 2004. When Goodluck Jonathan was in office, he declared a state of emergency in Borno, in Yobe and in other states. He did not remove the governor, the deputy governor and the House of Assembly members because it was obvious that they were not the people causing the problem. So, in the case of river states, the people who have been suspended are the same persons who are responsible for the declaration.
On why President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not suspend the minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike as well, the constitutional lawyer, Nweze said: "What I can tell you is that there is nothing, anybody if you want to speak on the point of law, there is nothing anybody can say that Nyesom Wike has done inRiver statee. It is not an issue in River State. I'm talking about the law because Nyesom Wike is a notaeHousee ofAssemblyymembers.
He further blamed the removed governor, Fubaraforf, for being very weak as a governor; "The House of Assembly members are adults who are doing things themselves. So, you see people are taking this matter the way it ought not to be. Look at the governor, Fubara. I can tell you, he is inexperienced. The government,r I can tell you, is weak.
"The governor, I can tell you, is gullible. The government,r I can tell you, takes advice in some way. I can't see how any governor who has anybody who has actually been involved in politics, you know would be doing things the way Fubara is doing. And the moment, they talk to him,m he does whatever people tell him. So he can't use his brain. When Hope Uzodinma was elected in his first tenure, within two months, she got all the members of other parties in the house assembly. They became members of his party.
He added that Governor Fubara was incapable of using his power to get all those assembly members.
"If a governor is too weak that he cannot manage his state then he's not fit to be governor. That's my submission on that. It's not every governor that can be removed just like that. Fubara had 4 members of the House of Assembly supporting him. 4 out of 32. Haba, it's too bad.
H,e however,r urged the newly appointed sole administrator to focus more on returning normalcy in River state, adding that Governor Fubara and the members of the state house of assembly must learn their lessons after six months and then learn to give way for peace to reign.
"The way forward is for the newly appointed sole administrator to do his work. And then within six months, I can tell you that Fubara would have learnt his lessons. Because somebody who is a governor and cannot handle the state, I tell you, that's a great weakness.
"So, the suspended governor and the suspended assembly members and then they will see the need for peace. I'm sure they will be able to resolve the differences. If they cannot resolve it, they should allow the law to take its course. Everything should be done by the law" he stressed.
