The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the cavalier manner by which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had suspended and subsequently reinstated the elected Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, describing the action as “whimsically autocratic.”
In a statement signed by Bolaji Abdullahi, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, the ADC said it was dismayed by President Tinubu’s attempt to disguise political brinkmanship as statesmanship. The party concluded that the President’s action in Rivers would define his political legacy.
The full statement read:
On Wednesday, September 17, Nigerians witnessed a curious spectacle: President Tinubu directing the Governor, Deputy Governor, and members of the State Assembly in Rivers State to “resume” duties after serving his six-month suspension from office.
The President’s decision to arrogate himself the power to suspend and recall elected officials in Rivers State, as he had done, is whimsically autocratic and should be recognised and condemned as a threat to our democracy.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) reiterates that what has happened in Rivers State over the last six months is a brazen manipulation of constitutional provisions to serve narrow political interests.
We harbour no doubts that the situation that served as the pretext for the declaration of the state of emergency was a clear act of political contrivance that only demanded the President’s unbiased political intervention. Instead, the President chose to serve the will of demagogues in his government, deploying the power of the constitution to attack what he should have protected.
For six long months, the will of the people of Rivers State was set aside. Their elected leaders were, in effect, put on suspension — not by a court of law, but by a President who himself was elected. Now, with the wave of a hand and the ink from his pen, the same President has decided to “allow” other duly elected officials back to work, as though they were his political appointees.
Let us be clear: Governors and legislators in a democracy do not draw their legitimacy from Aso Rock. They derive it from the people who elected them. Only a competent court can remove or restrain them — not a press statement or presidential proclamation. The President is not a Headmaster, and Governors are not his pupils to be sent home and recalled at his discretion. Yet, we recall that this President once claimed to be a federalist who, as a state governor himself, fought to protect the relative autonomy of his state.
However, with this action, the President and his men have achieved their goals — and that goal was not to “restore peace” to Rivers State. They now have a thoroughly pacified government in Rivers State, which has learnt its hard lessons that its primary loyalty is not to the people of Rivers State, but to Abuja. More importantly, the Rivers experience would now serve as a clear warning to other state governments in the country to “behave themselves.”
In keeping with their well-worn propaganda, presidential aides announced that the President had cut short his vacation to attend to the worsening security situation in the country. This claim is indeed laughable. But it is now made clear: the President did not return because Nigerians are being killed, or because life has become unbearable for the majority. He returned for one reason only — to personally oversee the return of Fubara to office and bask in the glory of the dictatorial powers that he had assumed for himself.
By removing a sitting governor and now personally directing his return, the message could not have been clearer: “I removed you, and I alone can bring you back.” This was not about law, or justice, or even governance. It was about control. It was about reinforcing the idea that, in today’s Nigeria, institutions may exist, but they remain subordinate to the will of one man.
For avoidance of doubt, Section 305 of our Constitution — which provides for emergency powers — was never intended to be used as a tool for settling political scores or exerting unconstitutional control over a state. It exists for moments of genuine public danger, such as floods, epidemics, or insurrections, not for political convenience.
The ADC, therefore, calls on the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court of Nigeria, to take a clear position on this matter, which has set a dangerous precedent. In moments like this, the judiciary cannot maintain silent indifference, or history will record them as collaborators in the subversion of our democracy.
