Emergency Rule: AGF Blames Fubara, Defends Tinubu, Wike

Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney general of the Federation, pointed fingers at Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers State, on Wednesday for being to blame for the oil-rich state’s political crisis.

The AGF claimed that Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd) was appointed as the sole administration in response to President Bola Tinubu’s proclamation of emergency rule in Rivers State, the governor’s suspension, and other events.

Fagbemi claimed that Fubara refused to rebuild the State House of Assembly Complex after it was destroyed to avoid being impeached and that he had resisted reconstruction.

READ MORE: Tinubu Is Ibok-ete Ibas’s sole administrator for Rivers

The Supreme Court’s decision on February 28, 2025 was ignored by the justice minister, who claimed that Fubara had miscalculated cautioned militants who had threatened to blow pipelines in the state. He claimed that the militant responsible for the threats had no words to dissuade.

He claimed that the situation could continue because it had severely damaged the country’s economic foundation.

Fagbemi added that Fubara, who had received an impeachment notice, could use some form of saving grace from the emergency rule declaration.

The governor would have completely lost and lost if it had been allowed to proceed in its entirety.

In a way, the AGF said, which would have ended up with both the governor and the deputy governor serving the entirety of their four-year term with the remainder of what they have, a balance of two years and two months, and prevents the impeachment.

RELATED: Nigeria’s Emergency Laws Since 1999

Wike is found not guilty.

Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), should not be taken into consideration in the Supreme Court’s decision, according to Fagbemi, who claimed it should not be taken personally.

Rivers State’s immediate-past governor Wike has been tussling with Fubara, his separated former political godson, for about two years. The pro-Wike Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule was supported by the apex court.

According to Fagbemi, Wike should not be involved in the situation because he was not accountable for Fubara’s actions because he failed to abide by the state’s constitutional requirements for obtaining the legislature’s consent in the course of running the state.

He said, “There are times when it comes to national issues, we have to come out loud and sincere. In this situation, where should the FCT minister be placed? He was the one who demanded that the Assembly be dissolved.

He claimed that the governor should not give the House of Assembly the budget. He was the one who gave the governor’s advice against ratifying the commissioner-nominees through the House of Assembly?

“I don’t know because you need to examine the facts presented in a case.” These crucial conclusions were made by the Supreme Court. The FCT minister was absent.

“He would have featured on the side of the legislators if he had featured, but what you have here is let everyone stay home for the first six months,” he said. Therefore, I can’t see his hands in the present.

Fagbemi advised all those opposed to the president’s decision to direct their support to the National Assembly to veto his decree.

In a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and fired members of the House of Assembly there.

According to Tinubu, who relyed on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to support his position, he can’t continue to observe the political deterioration in Rivers.

Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others, have expressly rejected and condemned the suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives.

Source: Channels TV