Rivers: NBA Urges Tinubu to Reinstate Gov Fubara Immediately

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has renewed its call for President Bola Tinubu to immediately reinstate Governor Siminalayi Fubara to his elected position as Rivers State governor.

Last Tuesday, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and subsequently suspended the elected governor, his deputy, and all members of the House of Assembly amid the ongoing political crisis in the oil-rich state.

In place of the suspended officials, the President appointed retired naval chief Ibok-Ete Ibas as the state’s sole administrator. Following this move, the NBA issued a statement asserting that the President lacked the constitutional authority to suspend democratically elected officials, labeling Fubara’s removal as unconstitutional.

Reaffirming its stance, NBA President Afam Osigwe insisted that Fubara must be reinstated, emphasizing that the Nigerian Constitution does not recognize the position of a sole administrator.

“That is our belief, that is what we expect the president to do, to restore him (Fubara) back to power having unconstitutionally removed him,”  Afam Osigwe told Channels Television, Sunday night, March 23 when asked if the president should recall the governor.”

“And that is why we do not recognise that a sole administrator is the rightful person to occupy the government house in Rivers State having been appointed unconstitutionally.

“Even when I saw him taking the oath of office, I was wondering which oath he was taking because he was taking an oath not known to the constitution, the constitution does not recognise an administrator,” he said.

Osigwe argued that the crisis in Rivers State is being addressed with the wrong solution, comparing it to using a sledgehammer on one’s head to cure a headache.

He said the measures being taken to address the Rivers problem “are overreaching, extensive, undemocratic and above all, unconstitutional.”

He emphasized that the crisis in Rivers State is political and can only be resolved through a political solution.

“I do not believe that it (Section 305) is not explicit, I simply believe that we deliberately refuse to apply it the way it is,” Osigwe said.

Osigwe dismissed the notion that the National Assembly’s approval legitimized the President’s action, stating that it was akin to placing something on nothing.