Wike cannot be blamed for Rivers Emergency Rule – AGF

Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, has said his Federal Capital Territory (FCT) counterpart, Nyesom Wike, cannot be blamed for the declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State. On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu declared State of Emergency in the oil-rich state, blaming it on the protracted political crisis. The president suspended the governor and […]

Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, has said his Federal Capital Territory (FCT) counterpart, Nyesom Wike, cannot be blamed for the declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State.

On Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu declared State of Emergency in the oil-rich state, blaming it on the protracted political crisis.

The president suspended the governor and House of Assembly members for six months, appointing former Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ibas, as sole administrator.

However, many accused the president of taking side with Wike and blaming the crisis on Fubara.

While commenting on the Rivers crisis on an ARISE Television programme on Wednesday morning, frontline journalist and public commentator, Mahmud Jega, said, “Just as the President enumerated the misdeeds of Governor Fubara, he should have also said a few things about the minister of the FCT who is actually very central to the creation and perpetration of this problem.

“Is it normal in law or politics that somebody as godfather will sit down in Abuja and begin factionalising the House of Assembly causing all kinds of problem in a state that he once governed. Unless something is done about that, then the problem in Rivers State will not be solved before 2027.”

But responding to questions during an interactive session with State House Correspondents, on Thursday,  Fagbemi blamed Fubara for the political logjam.

He said the governor took the law into his hands by destroying the State House of Assembly Complex/

He said, “There are occasions when it comes to national issues. We have to come out plainly. Was Wike the one that asked the State Assembly to be demolished? I don’t see the hand of the Minister of the FCT in what happened.”

Fagbemi added that the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that the governor had envisaged that he might be impeached and ordered demolition of the House of Assembly to prevent that.

He said if the Supreme Court had concluded that there was no government in Rivers, then there was nothing a responsible leader could have done than to take the  decision of Tuesday.

“The President took a very bold decision. As things stand we have a duty to give maximum respect to the judgement of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Fagbemi advised those not happy with the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers to approach the National Assembly

“If the National Assembly feel what the President did was not okay, he will not have two third from the National Assembly. We are expecting that within 48 hours something will come out.”