The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has declared that the Nigerian Constitution does not recognise the appointment of a sole administrator, insisting that Governor Siminalayi Fubara must be reinstated.
NBA President Afam Osigwe, speaking on Sunday Politics, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to suspend Fubara, his deputy, and the State House of Assembly while imposing a state of emergency.
“That is our belief, that is what we expect the president to do, to restore him (Fubara) back to power having unconstitutionally removed him,” Osigwe stated.
He emphasised that the Nigerian Constitution does not recognise the role of a sole administrator.
“Even when I saw him taking oath of office, I was wondering which oath he was taking because he was taking an oath not known to the constitution. The constitution does not recognise an administrator,” he added.
READ ALSO: Tinubu’s Rivers Emergency Rule Unconstitutional, NBA Declares
Osigwe argued that the crisis in Rivers is political and requires a political solution, not executive overreach.
“The measure being taken to address the Rivers problem is overreaching, extensive, undemocratic, and above all, unconstitutional,” he said.
Comparing the federal intervention to “using a sledgehammer on his head because of a headache,” he maintained that only dialogue and political negotiation could resolve the situation.
Some legal experts have suggested that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution left room for Tinubu’s decision, but the NBA president dismissed this interpretation.
“I do not believe that it (Section 305) is not explicit. I simply believe that we deliberately refuse to apply it the way it is,” he said.
He also rejected the notion that the National Assembly’s approval of the state of emergency gave legitimacy to the president’s move.
“The National Assembly’s approval is like placing something on nothing,” Osigwe argued, reinforcing the NBA’s stance that the federal intervention in Rivers State is unconstitutional.