Atiku Leads Opposition Leaders to Address Tinubu’s Emergency Rule in Rivers

Former Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is set to lead a coalition of opposition leaders in a press conference today at 10:00 AM at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.

The conference will focus on President Bola Tinubu’s controversial state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. Atiku’s special adviser on broadcast media, Abdul Rasheed Shehu, announced this via his X handle.

In a national broadcast on Tuesday, President Tinubu announced the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire State House of Assembly for six months. He then appointed retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd.), as the sole administrator of the state.

The decision has sparked widespread criticism, with legal experts and political analysts arguing that Nigeria’s Constitution does not grant the president the power to remove an elected governor through an emergency declaration.

For the proclamation to be valid, the National Assembly must approve it with a two-thirds majority. However, both the Senate and the House of Representatives failed to debate the issue on Wednesday, leaving today’s session crucial for determining its fate.