Veteran Nollywood actor, politician and activist Kenneth Okonkwo has called for the removal of President Bola Tinubu for for what he termed declaration of Martial Law in Rivers State.
What he did is a coup not a state of emergency as people erroneously call it
Okonkwo’s reaction to the recent events in Rivers State is contained in a podcast shared on YouTube which the actor personally availed everydaynewsngr.net.
Hear him:
People have been making a mistake as to what the president did in Rivers State. Tinubu did not declare state of emergency in Rivers State, the president declared a Martial law in Rivers State.
State of Emergency is recognised by our constitution. And has given the president the power to declare state of emergency under certain conditions.
The Nigerian Bar Association has made it clear that none of those conditions has been fulfilled to warrant the declaration of State of emergency. Meaning that the purported declaration is not a state of emergency.
The Supreme Court is very clear! In the case of Attorney General of Bendel State and Adeyo, It said any act of governance not covered under an enabling law is a nullity. So there is nothing like state of emergency in Rivers. What Bola Tinubu did is not a state of emergency because even when the situation has arisen it doesn’t include the removal of elected representatives of the people.
The constitution is very clear in Section 1(2) that Nigeria shall not be governed or any part thereof by any persons except in accordance with the constitution. Where is it in the constitution that Nigeria or any state shall be governed by a sole administrator. None.
So what the President did is akin to what the president of South Korea did when he declared martial law and wanted to remove the representatives of the people. The legislature moved in immediately.
Including members of the party of the president and removed the president himself. Declaring martial law to remove representatives of the people; that is a coup against the federation.
The president of South Korea is awaiting trial for doing that.
What the legislature is expected to be thinking about doing is removing Tinubu for declaring martial law on a state, federating unit and trying to rule that state through the military; through Sole administrator, not contemplated by our constitution.
Tinubu usurped the power to make law for that state; he said the sole administrator can make regulation – regulation is part of law. So he usurped it through a decree; not our law. That sole administrator can make law and he, Tinubu, and his cabinet will be the one to authorise the law. Usurping power of the legislature- that is treason. That is trying to govern Nigeria or a part of it in a manner not contemplated by the constitution.
Tinubu suspended numerous sections of the constitution in order to make his declaration. No state of emergency authorises the govt to suspend any provision of the constitution. But in declaring the martial law which Tinubu did he suspended Sections 1, 179,180, 188, 189, 120 and 121 including Section 117 and 110 of the constitution in order to make that declaration. That cannot be declaration of a state of Emergency.
What are these Sections talking, that you cannot govern Nigeria outside elected members of the representatives of the people. And these Sections enumerated the methods you can use to remove a member of the House of Assembly Or the Governor. One, by death, resignation, impeachment, by permanent incapacity and expiration of term. And for the House of Assembly member by recall. That’s the summary of the Sections I have enumerated.
So the president suspended these sections and wants to rule Rivers State by decree. Because he has already usurped the power of the legislature and that is why I am saying that what he declared was martial law, was a coup against the people of Rivers State.
Rivers State are the ones that elected the Governor and members of the Assembly. And even by interpretation act, it said, he that appoints is the only person that has the power to remove. So the President did not appoint the Governor, he did not appoint members of the Assembly, they were elected. The President has no right to remove them. And any govt in place on a democracy was instituted by laws; that’s why the Supreme Court say any act of governance that is not covered under an enabling law is a nullity.
Even the National Assembly that has the right, and I am talking now about the State of emergency, for us to know the difference between State of emergency and what Tinubu did. In state of emergency, Section 305 is very clear, you declare State of emergency when there is war, when there is imminent threat of invasion of Nigeria – that has not happened. Or when there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety as to warrant extra ordinary measure to correct the situation or where there is a danger that such a thing will happen or where there is a natural calamity of such that needs extraordinary measure to correct it or where there is a threat to the collapse of the federation of Nigeria. This is Section 305(3). Now, none of these has happened and the President came on TV to say there is a security report – security report Mr President is for you, it is not for Nigerians. So anything that Nigerians do not know should not know Nigerians. You that know your security report has not given you the right to remove elected representatives. So what the State of emergency actually is doing is that the president should empower the democratic forces to be able to overcome the danger even if it means using extraordinary measure. What is the extraordinary measure? The state of emergency that is talking about extraordinary measure is that you have the right to restrict the fundamental rights of Nigerians when you are taking away the extraordinary measure it does not mean removing elected representatives and it was stated in Section 45 of the constitution when they say that the provisions of the human rights cannot invalidate any law made by the National Assembly if that law is intended for the defense, public safety, public morality, public order or public health of the country and even that Section made it clear that the National Assembly has the power to make such law for the defense even if it affects the fundamental human rights. And in Section 11(4) the constitution made it clear that the making of the law by the National Assembly does not include the removal of the governor or the deputy. That is, even if the legislature is not functioning in that state. What does that tell you, that no law gives any right to any elected president to remove elected representatives of the people. Now let me tell you this catch, because the President is referring to one pipeline or two that was breached. During the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan the whole pipelines in Niger Delta were threatened; most of them were breached by the militants that had waged war against the federal Republic because of marginalisation of The Niger Delta. President Goodluck Jonathan…that was a situation that needed a state of emergency, he did not even declare a state of emergency because he didn’t believe there was anything extraordinary in what these people were doing which the security forces cannot contain. He simply made an order that security forces should restore order in that region and arrest the culprits and bring them to justice. That was what he did and the security forces moved in. No governor was affected, no assembly was affected and it led to the dialogue which resulted in the amnesty which brought peace to the region which we are enjoying today. When a competent president wants to make peace in any part of the country he goes by the way that Goodluck Jonathan, that Umar Y’adua did. You negotiate; you go into dialogue not going to support your appointee in order to destroy the state because you want to capture the state. That is why it is not a state of emergency he is doing because Y’Adua faced with problem in the entire Niger Delta which breached all the pipelines, which brought war against the federal government did not even declare a state of emergency and a president is telling you apprehension, there is tension not that there is something actual, no evidence, that is one. Secondly, when Goodluck Jonathan was faced with invasion, insurgency by a terrorist group called Boko Haram that had taken over local governments and three states were under threat, Goodluck Jonathan rightly declared a state of emergency and did not remove any governor and did not remove any representative of the people; why? Because he was not declaring any martial law he was declaring state of emergency and he took out that situation and in six weeks he wiped them out. Why he declared a state of emergency is to let the people know- your movement might be curtailed so don’t come and quote for us freedom of movement. You shouldn’t come out at so so time because stray bullet can catch you. And then if hit by stray bullet you can’t go to anyone and say the person was killed. That’s the essence of the state of emergency. Your fundamental human rights could be be involved.
Now, let’s go to Obasanjo because he was the only leader that removed some governors while declaring state of emergency which the courts now have ruled illegal. But one thing Obasanjo did; he didn’t use it as an instrument of power grab. Obasanjo never declared or removed any elected representatives in the opposition party; it was only PDP members, his own party he removed. And there was another governor that had security issues from another party, Obasanjo refused to remove him because he knew it would be interpreted as power grab. He wrote a letter of warning to that Governor.
When Tinubu was governor there were security problems in Lagos. Obasanjo restrained himself from declaring state of emergency in Lagos.
.. it is a coup to forcefully and with military remove elected representatives so that he can take over the state and administer it with military people that’s a coup.
Tinubu is the first President since 1979 that has used the instrument of State of emergency to usurp power from the opposition party. There was nothing in Rivers State that necessitated a declaration of State of emergency.
When they organised local government election in Rivers State secretaries were burned by people who were against the Governor. Somebody was caught with a bomb; he detonated it, it wounded him. They arrested him, what has happened to him till date, nothing. People committed arson; people loyal to appointees of the president. Burned down secretariats in open glare, nobody was arrested, why? No state of emergency was declared, why? And then, now you have peace you are saying you declared state of emergency.
I was really troubled When the president was mentioning Supreme Court judgement; Supreme Court said that appropriation act must be re submitted by the governor because the governor had submitted it to a legitimate House of Assembly and they were legitimate until the declaration of the Supreme Court.
They said he should re-present it to the 27 lawmakers. And the law is that no money of the state can be spent except it’s appropriated by the House of Assembly and that the Governor will present it for such appropriation.
Tinubu suspended the constitution because he wanted to go against the Supreme Court judgement which has ordered the governor to re-present the budget to the Assembly. This declaration is against the Supreme Court judgement and it is now Tinubu disobeying the Supreme Court judgement not the governor. The governor wrote to the Assembly; come let is discuss about the budget. What a good man. Why is he inviting them? Because the budget that contained only four members of the Assembly will not be the same as the budget that will contain 27 members. They refused. They gave him ultimatum. Ultimatum means we are waiting for you and you must come and present this within this time. The governor went to honour the ultimatum. They locked the gate against him and yet Tinubu is giving it as an example. And he is calling the governor who said he would obey the decisions of the Court and has obeyed all. And you are still calling him. That means you have a sinister motive to overthrow his government by force and that is exactly what he did, deploying the military which is against the judgement of the Supreme Court. It’s an impeachable offense for a President to go against the judgement of the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is very clear that no money should be spent. It even suspended the allocation. So saying that you will unilaterally make a law to overrule the Supreme Court and give Rivers State money to a Sole administrator who is not even from their State means that you want to use your power which is military power as Commander in chief of the Armed forces …if this is not military dictatorship tell me what it is…so what happened in Rivers State is coup and Nigerians must rise..like what happened in South Korea, Tinubu ought to be removed and ought to be facing trial for treason…”
