Former Rivers State Governor and ex-Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has fiercely criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's recent suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Amaechi called the action “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and a brazen violation of Nigeria’s Constitution.” He urged the National Assembly, state governors, and stakeholders to reject what he termed an “illegal power grab” by the President.
Amaechi argued that Tinubu had overstepped his constitutional authority by suspending the elected state officials. Referring to Section 188 of the Nigerian Constitution, which defines the impeachment process for a governor, he emphasized that a governor can only be removed through a constitutionally defined process—not by presidential decree.
“With this singular move, Mr. President has technically suspended and truncated democracy in Rivers State. This clearly violates our Constitution, the same Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that Mr. President swore to uphold,” Amaechi stated.
He further questioned Tinubu’s use of Section 305 of the Constitution, which allows the President to declare a state of emergency, arguing that it does not give him the power to “dissolve elected arms of government.”
The former Rivers governor accused certain forces of orchestrating a political takeover in the state and urged Nigerians across political lines to resist what he described as an “audacious violation of democracy.” He added, “At this inauspicious moment in our nation’s trajectory, all people of goodwill and conscience should rise to oppose this audacious violation of our Constitution and rape of our democracy.”
Amaechi, who has served as the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), also commended governors who had spoken out against the suspension. He called on other governors to join in rejecting the move and to prevent what he warned could lead to Nigeria’s descent into totalitarianism.
His statement follows a mixed reaction to Tinubu’s emergency rule declaration in Rivers State, with some defending it as necessary to restore stability, while others, like Amaechi, see it as a dangerous precedent that undermines democratic governance.
