Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has sharply criticized President Bola Tinubu for his recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, accusing him of endorsing a move that he himself had previously rejected when he was Lagos State governor. Falana made the comments during a webinar titled “Civilian Coup? Tinubu’s State of Emergency in Rivers,” held over the weekend.
According to Falana, President Tinubu, when he served as Lagos State governor, had firmly opposed the idea of a state of emergency being declared in Lagos by former President Olusegun Obasanjo during the height of the Odua People’s Congress (OPC) crisis. Falana expressed surprise that both Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who had resisted similar actions under former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 during a crisis in Rivers State, are now promoting such a move.
“One then wonders what has happened between then and now that these two individuals are now promoting those things they resisted and fought against, during their time as governors,” Falana said. He recalled that as Lagos governor, Tinubu had threatened that Lagosians would reject any emergency declaration imposed by Obasanjo. He also noted that Wike had previously criticized the use of federal power during the 2019 elections crisis in Rivers, adding, “It’s quite a surprise that these two men are seen promoting what they firmly stood against, then.”
Falana, a constitutional lawyer, argued that while the Nigerian president does have the constitutional right to declare a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution, this does not extend to the removal of elected state executives. He questioned the legal basis for President Tinubu’s decision to remove Governor Siminalayi Fubara, pointing out that the Supreme Court had recently ruled against the illegal removal of local government chairmen and their councillors by some state governors.
“It was even the federal government that took the case to court last year and got a judgment. And part of the Supreme Court pronouncements was the instruction to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General of The Federation not to release the statutory allocations to such states unless their local government councils are properly constituted. So, if the governor does not have the power to sack local government chairmen, where is the President deriving his own power to sack the Rivers State governor from?” Falana asked.
The renowned human rights lawyer challenged his colleagues in the legal profession, urging them to point out the specific section of the constitution that empowers the president to remove state executives. He also criticized the decision to ratify the president’s actions through a voice vote, calling it a “mockery of democracy.”
On the state of the Nigerian economy, Falana expressed concerns about its declining performance. Despite attempts by the government to present a positive outlook, he argued that the economic figures indicate a failing economy. He called on critical stakeholders to give as much attention to economic discussions as they do to politics, suggesting that the budgets of state governments should be scrutinized in the same way that the federal government’s budget is. Falana emphasized that decisions made at the state level often have a profound and lasting impact on the people.
In his opening remarks, Nigerian-American Professor and co-host of the event, Farooq Kperogi, explained that the webinar aimed to bring attention to the constitutional implications of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the dismissal of its executives. The event sought to critically examine the legality of such actions.
