‘A clear abuse of power across three arms of government’ — Jonathan speaks on emergency rule in Rivers
Former President Goodluck Jonathan says the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers state is ” a clear abuse of office and power” across the three arms of government.
On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers, citing the protracted political crisis in the state.
The president suspended Siminalayi Fubara, the governor, Ngozi Odu, his deputy, and all members of the house of assembly.
On Thursday, the two chambers of the national assembly voted in favour of the president’s decision.
Speaking about the development, the former president, at the Haske Satumari Foundation’s annual colloquium held in Abuja on Saturday, berated the three arms of the government for what he calle abuse their power.
“As a former president and also from the Niger Delta, when the issue of suspending the governor of Rivers state came up, I think people called on me, President Jonathan and ex-President Obasanjo to say something,” he said.
“People expected us to say something about what was happening. But traditionally, all over the world, former presidents hardly make statements about what the current presidents are doing because of the tension it could create in the country.
“What is happening in Nigeria today regarding the situation in Rivers state is like an Indian proverb that says: ‘If somebody is sleeping, really sleeping, you can easily wake up that person. But if that person is pretending to sleep, you (will) find it difficult to wake up that person.”
“The key actors in Nigeria, from the executive to the legislature, judiciary and the senate and the judiciary… they know the correct thing to do. But they are refusing to do it.
“They are pretending to sleep and waking such a person is extremely difficult because the person knows the right thing.
“A clear abuse of office and clear abuse of power cutting across from the three arms of government — from the executive to the parliament and the judiciary.”
