A prominent Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Anabs Sara-Igbe, has again criticized the decision of President Bola Tinubu to impose a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy and members of the State House of Assembly.

Sara-Igbe, in an interview with Vanguard, said that the action of President Tinubu is a violation of the country’s constitution.

The former spokesperson of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), argued that Tinubu could carry out the action because the National Assembly has failed in its responsibility of checking the excesses of the executive and is no longer an independent arm of government.

He added that with what has been done in Rivers State, Nigeria is tilting towards civilian dictatorship and inviting military intervention.

Speaking against the backdrop of recent submissions by former President Oluesegun Obasanjo and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, that democracy is dead in Nigeria, Sara-Igbe agreed that when leaders refuse to abide by the provisions of the constitution, it is clear that democracy is indeed threatened.

In his words, “Nigeria is tilting towards dictatorship. Civilian dictatorship is inviting the military brothers to come. It is like the inside rat in the house inviting the outside rat.

“So, democracy is threatened, the leaders no longer obey the constitution, and there is a breakdown of law and order.”

Sara-Igbe argued that all arms of government – the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary violated the constitution and failed to play their expected role in events around the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

“They have violated the constitution. The president has violated the Constitution. If you look at Sections 188 and 189, you will see that Mr President has violated the constitution as regards Rivers State.

“Even if you go to sections 183, 188, 189, the sections that deal with the removal or illegibility of the governor, there is no provision that empowers the president to suspend or sack a governor.

“And now, they are even thinking of suspending him forever; it means democracy is dead. I agree with them. We are fast sliding into a dictatorship.

“We see that all the arms of the government—the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary—have all violated the law.

“The legislature did not apply the constitutional provision in Section 305 that says a 2/3 majority of the members must vote on issues of state of emergency. They did a voice vote, so we did not know how many people voted, how many were absent, or even present.

“All these happened without following the due process of law. The rule of law is no longer in place. Mr President should be careful; that is my advice.

“He should turn back; he cannot destroy the country because of one man. He should not damage his reputation and the entire democratic system.”

It’s Not Too Late

The Ijaw leader, however, appealed to President Tinubu to beat a retreat before the country is plunged further into constitutional errors.

“What is happening today is against the law and a slap on the Nigerian constitution. So, Mr. President, the head of the government can make amends.

“Again, Mr President violated the law by overriding the Supreme Court judgment. The Supreme Court said don’t release money to the government in Rivers State until the budget is presented.

“Without a budget, Mr. President overrode the Supreme Court and released money. These are all breaches of the Constitution. The president is doing all these things because he knows that the National Assembly has also breached the constitution and is compromised. The judiciary, on its own, has lost shape to the executive,” he submitted.