Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has strongly criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, calling it a contradiction of his past stance when he was governor of Lagos. Speaking during a webinar titled “Civilian Coup? Tinubu’s State of Emergency in Rivers”, Falana recalled how Tinubu, as Lagos State governor, had vehemently opposed former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s attempt to impose a state of emergency in Lagos during the OPC crisis.
Falana also pointed out that Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who resisted a similar move by former President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2019 elections in Rivers, now appears to be supporting the declaration. He questioned what had changed between then and now, arguing that both Tinubu and Wike were now promoting what they once fought against.
The constitutional lawyer emphasized that while Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution grants the president the authority to declare a state of emergency, it does not give him the power to remove an elected governor. He questioned the legality of the decision, noting that the Supreme Court had recently ruled that governors do not have the power to sack elected local government chairmen.
“If governors do not have the power to remove local government chairmen, where is the president deriving the power to remove a governor?” Falana asked. He described the process used to ratify the decision—through a voice vote—as a mockery of democracy.
Falana urged legal professionals supporting Tinubu’s move to cite the section of the Constitution that grants the president such authority. He also called for greater public scrutiny of state budgets and economic policies, arguing that Nigerians must focus on both political and economic governance to ensure accountability at all levels.
The controversy surrounding the state of emergency declaration has further intensified debates about the extent of presidential power and the autonomy of state governments in Nigeria.
