…Tells NASS, govs to reject action
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, has described as “rape of democracy,” the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, Professor Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers House of Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
Amaechi, in a statement Wednesday, knocked Tinubu for his action, and urged members of the National Assembly, Nigerian Governors, and the general public to stoutly resist what he called “audacious violation of democracy.”
Describing the move as ” power grab” Amaechi urged Nigerians to unite against it.
Amaechi also described the move as “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and a brazen violation of Nigeria’s Constitution.”
The former Minister argued that President Tinubu had by suspending democratically elected political leaders, overstepped his bounds.
The former Governor who cited Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, said a governor could only be removed through a “clearly defined impeachment process, not by presidential decree.”
The statement read: “With this singular move, Mr. President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in Rivers State. This clearly violates our Constitution, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Mr. President swore to uphold.”
Amaechi noted that although the President could declare a state of emergency in a state, “it does not grant him the power to dissolve elected arms of government.”
Amaechi accused certain forces of masterminding what he called “a political takeover in the state” for selfish reasons.
“At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our Constitution and rape of our democracy. Mr. President must be made to know and understand in unmistakable terms that this illegality cannot stand,” he declared.
