By Editor
The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has said the decision of President Bola Tinubu to declare state of emergency in Rivers State could be acceptable if it was done on the basis of threat to national security.
The forum however pointed out that the courts had long declared that a sitting democratically elected Governor cannot be suspended from office.
The National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, who asserted while reacting to President Tinubu’s media broadcast on the Rivers State crisis, said: “It is sad that we have gone back to this era which we experienced during the administration of former President Obasanjo. If I have not forgotten, the courts had declared that a sitting democratically elected Governor cannot just be suspended.
“However if it bothers on national security as it is today, then one has to reason because I learnt that a major pipeline has been blown up. And when it comes to that it becomes a different ball game because it is national security rather than the political upheaval in the state that is in consideration.
“So I wouldn’t want to talk on the legal aspect but the situation in Rivers state required some intervention by Mr. President. And it is unfortunate that this thing has been allowed to linger for this long because it shouldn’t have.
“In the first instance the FCT Minister who is doing well in the FCT by every standard should have held his peace and not to interfere too much in the Rivers situation.
“On the other hand, there could be other underlying factors which we do not know may be playing out in Rivers state and it has gone out of control.
“If the President is doing this in the interest of national security I think it shouldn’t have had a timeline as they have put it (six months) Mr. President can asked the security forces to step in and resolve the problem but still following the constitutional provision with the governor still sitting in place.
“The Presidnet is trying to save the Governor from the impeachment that we see brewing, that is another ball game. But we should all look at its from the level of the constitution. Is it constitutional to suspend a sitting Governor that was democratically elected? That is the question that has to be answered.
“But with regards to national security, yes the President can take action in any part of the country to safeguard the country in the event of a security breach. Because if it is true that the pipeline was blown up, the economy of the country can collapse as a result and the president has to take action.”
