The 2023 Presidential candidate of the NNPP, Rabiu Kwakwanso says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has brought the ‘military close to power’ as a result of his emergency rule proclamation in Rivers state.
Many Nigerians are still traumatized by the decades of military rule in the country, which ended in 1999, with tails of abuse of human rights abuse left behind by the soldiers.
Kwakwanso, a former governor and Minister of Defence said everything must be done to discourage military men, who are supposed to be confined to the barracks, from taking over government.
The former governor made the remark in a statement he personally signed on Friday, barely 24 hours after the National Assembly ratified the president’s State of Emergency declaration in the oil rich state.
On Tuesday, the magazine reported, president Tinubu declared Emergency Rule in the restive state, after weeks of protracted power struggle between Governor Siminalaye Fubara and his estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike, his predecessor and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Minister.
Apart from suspending Governor Fubara, his Deputy and the state Hosue of Assembly, President Tinubu appointed former chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibaz (rtd.) as the Sole Administrator to pilot the affairs of the Niger Delta state for a period of six months.
President Tinubu had cited his powers under the Constitution as the basis for taking the action, which he said was subject to the approval of the National assembly.
On Thursday, the Senate and the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the president’s action, amid criticism from not a few Nigerians who insist that they failed defend the country’s democracy by just being a mere rubber stamp of the president.
In his reaction to the NASS action, Kwakwanso said the president abused his powers by removing democratically elected officials in the state, saying the lawmakers should have checkmated him, by disapproving the imposition of State of Emergency.
He criticised the president for sacking democratic institutions, and militarizing the state, noting that the action portends grave danger to the nation’s democracy, and her efforts to ensure that the military are prevented from returning to power.
According to him, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his ascension to power in 1999, did all he could to keep soldiers in the barracks, saying those gains are now being eroded by the Tinubu administration.
He also accused the judiciary of failing in its duty as the custodian of law in the country, urging judges and lawyers to ‘wake up’ to their duties by upholding the law.
The statement in part, “The legislature has the responsibility to hold the Executive accountable, not to simply endorse its decisions. It is, therefore, appalling to see this 10th Assembly act more like a rubber stamp than any of its predecessors.
“Even more disturbing is the unilateral decision by both chambers of the National Assembly to ratify the President’s proclamation. I had hoped that legislators would not add salt to injury by approving this illegality.
“The Constitution is clear on the voting process for matters of such importance, and the decision to use a voice vote instead of a transparent procedure is inconsistent with proper legislative conduct.
“Moreover, for a politician who prides himself as a defender of democracy, President Tinubu should know better than to bring the military closer to power. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo worked hard to confine them to the barracks, and we must not undo that progress,” he said.
Following the declaration, soldiers and other security forces have been deployed to the embattled state to maintain law and order, raising concerns among not a few Nigerians, the imminent dangers of allowing soldiers to play active role in governance.
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