Rivers State of emergency: This is absolute Armageddon—total disrespect for constituted authority – Bode George…PDP kicks

According to the elder statesman, the declaration violated the constitution and is a dangerous precedent for Nigerian democracy.“This is absolute Armageddon—total disrespect for constituted authority. The Constitution has been viciously violated,”
George stated.

“What did Fubara do? As Commander-in-Chief, Tinubu gave Wike soldiers and security agents to destabilize Rivers State.”The governor has no control over security agencies, yet he remained calm. Nobody has explained what he did to warrant this dictatorial emergency rule.”

He warned against a replication of history, saying: “This is exactly how it started in 1962 and 1983. It’s a dress rehearsal for what Tinubu wants to do in 2027.”The APC wants to take control of all states through unconstitutional means.

“Did he get National Assembly approval before his broadcast? Why didn’t he declare a state of emergency in Lagos when lawmakers were fighting? Why invite Diete-Spiff and Niger Delta leaders last week if he already planned this?”George expressed worry over the future of democracy under the current administration. He wondered if the president was becoming a dictator and urged Nigerians to resist undemocratic acts.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has described Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State as an “unconstitutional power grab” aimed at dismantling democracy in the region.In a Tuesday press statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party rejected what it described as an “outright violation” of the 1999 Constitution and an attempt to impose an unelected government on the people of Rivers State.

“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and indeed, Nigerians listened with dismay to the national broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in which the President, in utter violation of the 1999 Constitution, pronounced an imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State,” the statement read in part.

“The unconstitutional declaration by President Tinubu of the suspension of the democratically elected Governor of Rivers State, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, and appointment of an unelected individual, Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd), to govern the State is a clear attack on our nation’s democracy, an abrogation of the votes and democratic right of the people of Rivers State to choose their leader under the Constitution.”

“It is the climax of a well-oiled plot to forcefully take over Rivers State, for which the APC has been bent on stoking crisis to ensure that democracy is ultimately truncated in the State.”

“Nigerians are invited to note that the situation in Rivers State and the reasons adduced by the President cannot justify the declaration of a state of emergency in the State under the 1999 Constitution, rendering the declaration completely incompetent.”

“The PDP alerts that the unwarranted imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State is part of the larger vicious plot to foist a siege mentality across Nigeria, decimate the opposition, impose a totalitarian one-party state, and turn the country into a fiefdom.