State Of Emergency: It Is Up To The National Assembly To Ratify, Or Reject It – AGF Fagbemi

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Like his boss, President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, domiciled the blame for the political impasse, and subsequent declaration of emergency rule in Rivers state on the door steps of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

This is even as he shockingly distanced Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister from events  leading up to the crisis in the State.

The Source reports that Present Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, March 18, suspended Governor Fubara, his Deputy, and Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months, after declaring a State of emergency.

A former Chief of  Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, has since been sworn-in as the State’s Sole Administrator.

However, the action of the President has so far elicited a deafening condemnation from across the country, with not a few insisting on the reversal of the situation.

Similarly, many, including the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, have questioned the  constitutionality of the emergency declaration, insisting that it smacks of a deliberate and desperate move to muscle opposition voices in the country.

But at a media briefing on Wednesday at the State House,  Abuja, Fagbemi, expectedly, justified the exercise, in which he must have played a significant role in prodding as the Nigeria’s Chief Law Officer.

It will be recalled that the President cited the failure of governance ,and threat to the peace and stability of both Rivers and the country among other reasons for his action.

Fegbemi explained that the declaration of the emergency rule became a last resort to save  Rivers Nigeria and its critical infrastructural facilities within the State.

The  AGF pointedly accused Governor Fubara of not only failing to discourage attacks on vital oil facilities, but subtly goaded the action.

According to him, the Governor played key roles in the twin explosions that rocked some oil pipelines in the State by enabling militants.

The AGF maintained that Fubara, as the Governor, failed woefully to play his role as the Chief Security Officer of the State, and by so doing, wittingly and/or by accident, encouraged needles attacks on oil pipelines and innocent residents.

“There was what I would call telegraphing of the militants by the Governor. He initially suggested that he would let them know when it was time to act.

“Even if we assume that was just a rhetoric, did he come out to disown them when they took action?

“The answer is no. Barely a week after, we saw the vandalization of oil pipelines”, Fagbemi stated.

The Minister of Justice insisted that the President was justified to have acted at the time he did because there were  clear and enough  signs  that there was no effective governance in the State.

According to him, both the Governor and the State Lawmakers failed to create an enabling environment for governance, peace and stability, a development that prompted the president to act.

While noting that the President acted within the confines of the law and the country’s constitution, he, however, stated that it is up to the National Assembly to either reject or approve of the emergency rule.

“The President acted based on the Supreme Court’s judgment ,and also to protect critical infrastructure in Rivers State.

“People were living in fear, and some were losing their lives. This was an extraordinary situation that required decisive action.

“The claim that the action was hasty is not correct .The crisis was escalating on daily basis, and at that point, the President had no other option than to act.

“But it is up to the National Assembly to either overturn the emergency declaration or approve it.

“The ball is now in the court of the National Assembly. If they do not ratify it ,the situation will not stand” Fagbemi noted.

Absolving Wike, from any blame, the AGF, questioned if it was the FCT Minister that ordered the demolition of the State House of Assembly Complex? “For me, I don’t see the hand of Minister of the FCT in what happened”, he submitted.