Emergency Rule: PDP Warns Ibas Not to Accept Appointment

…‘We shall resist any attempt to subvert democracy in Rivers’ – Ologunagba

By Simeon OSAJIE’

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State yesterday Tuesday, March 18 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as an “unconstitutional power grab” aimed at destroying democracy in the region.

In a press statement on Tuesday night, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP rejected the declaration, stating that it was in outright violation of the 1999 Constitution and an attempt to impose an unelected government on the people of Rivers State.

The statement said, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and indeed, Nigerians listened with dismay to the national broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in which the President, in utter violation of the 1999 Constitution, pronounced an imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State.”

The PDP insisted that “The unconstitutional declaration by President Bola Tinubu of the suspension of the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and appointment of an unelected individual, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd), to govern the State is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, an abrogation of the votes and democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.”

Accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), of deliberately fueling the crisis in Rivers State as part of a broader strategy to ‘forcefully take over Rivers State’ and neutralize political opposition across the country, the PDP posited that “It is the climax of a well-oiled plot to forcefully take over Rivers State, for which the APC has been bent on stoking crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the State.”

Questioning the legal basis for the emergency rule, PDP submitted that President Tinubu’s move did not meet the constitutional threshold for such a drastic measure, adding, “Nigerians are invited to note that the situation in Rivers State and the reasons adduced by the President cannot justify the declaration of a state of emergency in the state under the 1999 Constitution, rendering the declaration completely incompetent.”

The opposition party alleged that the move was part of a larger plan to “foist a siege mentality across Nigeria” and erode political plurality, paving the way for “a totalitarian one-party state.”

“The PDP alerts that the unwarranted imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State is part of the larger vicious plot to foist a siege mentality across Nigeria, decimate the opposition, impose a totalitarian one-party state, and turn the country into a fiefdom,” the statement said.

Citing Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, the statement contended that the President lacked the exclusive power to impose emergency rule without National Assembly approval and dismissed his actions as illegal.

According to the PDP, “For the avoidance of doubt, Section 305 (2) provides that ‘The President shall immediately after the publication, transmit copies of the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation containing the proclamation including the details of the emergency to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, each of whom shall forthwith convene or arrange for a meeting of the House of which he is President or Speaker, as the case may be, to consider the situation and decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation.’”

Meanwhile, Nigerians wait with bated breath as the House of Representatives this Wednesday March 19, 2025, deliberate on “Tinubu’s emergency rule request”.

The PDP’s statement also warned the retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas, not to accept the appointment or take any steps that could derail democratic governance in Rivers State.

While further warning President Tinubu to “recognize that his order to an unelected individual to forthwith take over government of Rivers State is illegal and a clear recipe for crisis, threat to the peace and stability of not only Rivers State but the entire nation,” the PDP reminded Nigerians that Fubara was democratically elected for a four-year tenure, which cannot be unconstitutionally abridged.

The PDP who vowed to resist any attempt to subvert democracy in Rivers State, urged all democratic forces, civil society organizations, and Nigerians to rise against what it called “a dangerous precedent”, stressing that “Nigeria is not under a military rule where the governance of a state is by appointment by a junta”.