Former Nigerian Vice President and PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu to revoke the state of emergency declared in Rivers State on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, calling the action unconstitutional.
News Central reports that President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the state on Tuesday evening, citing political instability.
As part of the measure, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly were suspended for six months.
Addressing a coalition of opposition parties at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, March 20, Abubakar criticised the decision as politically motivated and an abuse of power.
“If this issue had to do with breach of security in whatever form, the question that should naturally be asked is, who controls the police, the military, and the GSS? The governor or the president?
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, our demand and call to action. Number one, immediate reversal. We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately revoke this unconstitutional proclamation and reinstate the elected governor, deputy governor, and state assembly of River State,” Atiku said.
Atiku also warned that the president’s move sets a dangerous precedent for removing elected leaders.
Citing past security crises, the coalition noted that previous emergency declarations did not involve removing governors.
“River State is not a conquered territory and Nigeria is not a dictatorship requiring the replacement of an elected governor with a military administrator.
“We recall that even when a previous administration had declared a state of administration in parts of the country bedeviled by insurgency and acts of terrorism, the governors of the concerned states were not removed from office as this administration has done. This action by Tinubu, therefore represents a new law for our country,” he said.
The former vice president accused the Nigerian government of engineering a crisis to justify the move, warning of potential unrest in the Niger Delta.
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the historical arrest in the Niger Delta should not be forgotten so soon. The past administration had made great efforts and sacrifices to restore peace and stability to the Niger Delta, which is critical to the economic health and stability of Nigeria itself.
“This federal government should not manufacture political crises that could disrupt the fragile stability and return the country to the past that we have all prayed to leave behind.
“We must never allow personal political interests and the desire to hold on to power at all costs to throw the country into unavoidable chaos through brazen subversion of the principles of federalism, democracy, and constitutional governance. This is not just about River State. It is about the future of Nigeria’s democracy,” he said.
