…Look at what is also happening in Kano
By Olayinka Ajayi
The National Chairman of the Action Democratic Party ADP), Sani Yabagi, believes President Bola Tinubu illegally suspended Governor Sim Fubara and Rivers State House of Assembly after imposing emergency rule in the state last Tuesday.
Yabagi stressed that such moves by the president are aimed at rigging the 2027 elections by ensuring he cripples the opposition ahead of the race.
Asked what he felt when he heard of the imposition of emergency rule, Yabagi said on a television programme, “I believe the president is the number 1 chief security officer of the country; he has the constitutional right to ensure that this country is governed in a peaceful manner, but what has happened to me portrays the president in a very bad light.
“If you look at that speech, he didn’t act presidential because a president is supposed to act in the interest of all parties. “Everybody in the world is aware of what was happening between Governor Fubara and Tinubu’s FCT Minister, Wike.
“Although his speech relied on the Constitution, he failed to exhaust all the provisions of the Constitution, which was to guarantee all the provisions of democracy that we have. But he didn’t live up to expectations.
“The Constitution that he referred to made provision for when you have a situation when the House of Assembly is incapacitated; the National Assembly is given the right to take up the functions of the State House of Assembly.
“In this particular case, what we have seen played out was even when Governor Fubara agreed to follow the judgment of the Supreme Court, he was ready to present his budget to the House of Assembly; they locked him out.
“Which means it is not Fubara that is creating the crisis that Mr. President is referring to.
‘Despotic leader’
“It is Nysom Wike. I don’t know how the president, in his speech, referred to Fubara as a despotic leader.
“I don’t know who is despotic in this circumstance. The President took one position to rig the 2027 election even before the time.
“It means they want to ensure that the opposition is so crippled not only in Rivers State, look at what is happening in Kano state! Playing the traditional rulers against each other in order to cripple the opposition wherever the opposition is in power.
“This is not good for democracy. I don’t think Mr. President is fair to us, even to me. “When I was the Chairman of IPAC, I remember I did everything to ensure that this democracy was not truncated.
“Some opposition leaders came and said that they should stop the counting of votes in the election.
“I said no because we thought that the man that would inherit that action was a democrat, but today what is happening is a different thing.
“We understand that when former President Obasanjo declared a state of emergency in 2004 in Plateau State, there was a case of conflagration, meaning that it was a case of reprisal killing of Christians in Kano State. “So Obasanjo was right at that point in time to save the nation.
“In this particular case we have only a case that affected only one state, and you have a provisions of the Constitution that would allow democratic structures in that state to continue.
“If you want to declare a state of emergency, it’s fine. You can declare a state of emergency to take care of the vandalism of the pipeline, which is inimical to the economy of this country”.
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