A state of emergency cannot be guise or subterfuge for the usurpation of the executive functions of the Governor or the exercise of the law making powers of the legislature
President Bola Tinubu is accused of illegally suspending Governor Siminalaye Fubara of Rivers State and other elected officials, according to the leaders of the Eastern Zone of the Ijaw Youth Council.
These leaders have taken the Federal Government to the ECOWAS Court of Justice in opposition to this action.
The imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Tinubu was confronted with equal opposition from the twelve litigants, who were led by Comrade Ibiso Harry.
An affidavit that the applicants submitted in support of the legal action that they initiated through a group of attorneys led by Chief Festus Ogwuche detailed the allegations that they made.
The applicants specifically urged the regional court to issue an order, setting aside and/or quashing the suspension of elected officials and removal of the democratic structures and institutions in Rivers state, as an imperative for the enthronement of a full-fledged democratic order. The suit under the designation ECW/CCJ/APP/18/25 was filed by the applicants.
In addition, they petitioned the court for an order that would nullify all decisions, actions, policies, and directives that had been issued or provided by the Sole Administrator, who had been appointed by President Tinubu on March 18 to oversee the business of Rivers state for a period of six months.
In addition, they petitioned the court for an order that would nullify all decisions, actions, policies, and directives that had been issued or provided by the Sole Administrator, who had been appointed by President Tinubu on March 18 to oversee the business of Rivers state for a period of six months.
Articles III and IV of the supplementary protocol revising the protocol of the ECOWAS Court, Article II of the Protocol of the court, and Article 33 of the Rules of the court served as the foundation for the suit that the Applicants filed.
Specifically, they asserted that the Respondent’s President, Tinubu, who was elected into political office, did not possess the authority to dismiss or suspend the governor of a state, who was also elected into the post.
An additional argument that was made by the Ijaw youth leaders was that the expulsion of Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly constituted a serious breach of their fundamental human rights. They continued by saying, “By doing so, the Defendant has unlawfully taken away the democratic rights of the Applicants as well as that of the population of Rivers State both individually and collectively.”
“The deliberate disruption of the democratic order in any part of the national structure questions the democratic practice and constitutional authenticity of the nation state, as the forceful removal of popular sovereignty in a part or fraction of the national landscape translates to the non-existence of liberal democracy and non-application and conformity with constitutional norms in the entire federation.
“The enthronement of an illegal and unconstitutional order in any form within a constitutional democracy threatens the very idea of freedom and precipitates loss of genuineness on the part of the state and its institutions of any legitimate claim to a constitutional democracy.
“A state of emergency cannot be guise or subterfuge for the usurpation of the executive functions of the Governor or the exercise of the law making powers of the legislature.”
The matter has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.