{"id":63000,"date":"2025-03-19T09:27:16","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=63000"},"modified":"2025-03-19T09:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:27:16","slug":"rivers-atiku-pdp-nba-iyc-others-condemn-tinubus-declaration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/03\/19\/rivers-atiku-pdp-nba-iyc-others-condemn-tinubus-declaration\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers: Atiku, PDP, NBA, IYC Others Condemn Tinubu\u2019s Declaration"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ifeoluwa Odunayo<\/strong><\/p>\n

A storm of outrage has erupted across Nigeria following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s dramatic suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire House of Assembly.<\/p>\n

The unprecedented move, which the presidency claims is aimed at restoring stability, has been met with fierce condemnation from political figures, legal bodies, and regional groups, who describe it as unconstitutional and a dangerous precedent for Nigeria\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar led the charge against the decision, warning that the President has no constitutional authority to unilaterally remove elected officials.<\/p>\n

Atiku decried the action as \u201ca direct assault on democracy\u201d and called on Nigerians to resist any attempt to erode constitutional governance.<\/p>\n

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under whose platform Fubara was elected, also rejected the declaration, vowing to challenge it in court.<\/p>\n

The party accused President Tinubu of orchestrating a political coup against Rivers State and warned that the decision could trigger unrest in the already volatile Niger Delta region.<\/p>\n

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) expressed deep concern over the legality of the suspension, cautioning that invoking emergency powers without exhausting constitutional and political solutions threatens the rule of law.<\/p>\n

The NBA called for immediate judicial intervention to prevent what it described as “executive overreach.”<\/p>\n

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) joined the growing opposition, alleging that the crisis was deliberately manufactured to justify the imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

The group accused Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike of masterminding the conflict to retain control of the state\u2019s political structure. It urged the President to reverse the decision in the interest of peace and stability.<\/p>\n

Amid the backlash, political analyst Reno Omokri defended the move, arguing that it was necessary to restore order in Rivers State.<\/p>\n

He maintained that the prolonged power tussle between Fubara and Wike had crippled governance, making decisive federal intervention unavoidable.<\/p>\n

Governor Fubara, in a brief but defiant message, urged Rivers people to remain calm, assuring them that the battle for democracy and justice is far from over.<\/p>\n

He insisted that his administration had maintained stability despite political provocations and expressed confidence in the resilience of the state\u2019s democratic institutions.<\/p>\n

The National Assembly is set to review President Tinubu\u2019s declaration today, March 19, in what could be a defining moment for Nigeria\u2019s constitutional democracy.<\/p>\n

As the crisis deepens, all eyes are on the nation\u2019s lawmakers, whose decision could either validate or overturn the suspension, shaping the future of political governance in Rivers State and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ifeoluwa Odunayo A storm of outrage has erupted across Nigeria following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu\u2019s dramatic suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire House of Assembly. The unprecedented move, which the presidency claims is aimed at restoring stability, has been met with fierce condemnation from political figures, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":63001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-63000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63002,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63000\/revisions\/63002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}