Rivers Peace Deal: Tinubu violated Nigerian Constitution – Group

A group of Rivers political leaders, under the aegis of the Rivers State Elders and Leaders Forum, has said that the “directives” given by President Bola Tinubu in a peace deal between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, amounts to a violation of the Nigerian Constitution which the president swore to uphold.

The Rivers House of Assembly has been affected in the tension that engulfed the oil-rich state, as Messrs Fubara and Wike engaged in a power tussle.

The group said although it solicited Mr Tinubu’s intervention in the crisis in the state, it was at loss as to whether the president’s intervention has solved the problem or escalated it.

President Tinubu, on Monday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, met for the second time in less than two months with Governor Fubara and Mr Wike, who is now the FCT minister.

Parts of the peace deal is that the factional Speaker of the Rivers assembly, Martin Amaewhule, and 24 other lawmakers whose seats were declared vacant following their defection from the PDP to the APC, should return to the assembly with their remuneration paid, and that Governor Fubara should henceforth not interfere with the funding of the assembly.

Governor Fubara, according to the deal, is to immediately withdraw all court cases he and his team instituted in respect of the crisis, and that the Rivers assembly shall choose where to sit and conduct legislative business without interference or hindrance from the executive arm.

Regarding the 2024 budget which was passed and signed into law, Mr Fubara was asked to present it again to a “properly constituted assembly”.

Mr Fubara is also to resubmit to the assembly for approval the names of about seven officials who resigned from his cabinet.

But the Rivers Elders and Leaders Forum, in a communique issued at their emergency meeting on Tuesday, said the directives unilaterally suspended the Nigerian Constitution by virtue of an attempt to reverse the court order which recognised Edison Ehie as the speaker of the assembly.

The communique was signed by Rofus Ada-George, a former governor of the state, on behalf of members of the forum.

‘One sided deal’

The forum said the directives contravene the doctrine and practice of separation of powers particularly as it affects the responsibility of the judiciary.

“Can Mr President or the Executive Arm of Government overrule the decisions of courts of competent jurisdiction?” the body queried. “This portends executive rascality which undermines our constitutional democracy, rule of law and good governance.

“The directives to the parties were one sided in favour of Mr Wike, and at the detriment of the Governor Fubara and the good people of Rivers State.

“In the eyes of the law and due process, as evidenced by the Rivers State High Court decision, that Mr Amaewhule and his team has ceased to exist in the state House of Assembly, having defected to another political party, and therefore cannot be reinstated and remunerated through the back door.

“It is the duty of the Executive Arm of Government to provide accommodation for legislators in a constitutional democracy as exemplified by the FCT Minister with respect to the National Assembly.

“It is therefore hypocritical to suggest that the Rivers State House of Assembly under Mr Amaewhule could sit anywhere of their choice, whereas in Abuja, it is the FCT Minister, on behalf of the executive arm that provides accommodation for Federal Legislators. The very reason why the FCT Minister was referred to as the ‘landlord of Abuja’ by Mr. President at the presentation of the 2024 budget.”

The Rivers elders urged the people of the state to rise up to salvage the state.

“Our fathers fought for the creation of Rivers State, we will stand to defend it. When injustice and criminality become law and a way of life in the polity, resistance becomes a duty.”