House of reps vote in support of Tinubu’s emergency rule in Rivers

Our reporter/ The House of Representatives on Thursday voted in support of the controversial declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months following the political crisis that had rocked the state.

The move has attracted widespread criticism from eminent Nigerians, groups and legal scholars.

However, two days after Tinubu’s controversial declaration, the House of Representatives in a voice vote backed the President, giving a seal of approval to his decision. Their support came following a letter from the president.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas presided over the plenary and said 240 lawmakers attended the session on Thursday in Abuja.

However, the House has made some amendments to the proclamation. These include the set up of a committee of eminent Nigerians to mediate on the matter during the period of emergency,
It also drew attention to the Constitutional provision that allows the National Assembly to make laws for a state if at any time the state assembly is unable to perform its functions, disagreeing with Tinubu’s position that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) would usurp this function.

The House of Representatives also said the state of emergency can be reviewed and terminated at any time within the initial six months, as proclaimed, based on progress made about peace.

Tinubu on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the South-South state and nominated Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as the sole administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state.

He cited “latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today, there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them”.

But that move has received condemnations from leaders of the opposition and some prominent Nigerians including legal experts, and governors, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, and Nasir El-Rufai among others.