….Presidency defends suspension of Governor Fubara, lawmakers, and declaration of emergency in Rivers
President Bola Tinubu has requested the Supreme Court docket to dismissed the lawsuit filed by governors elected on the platform of the Folks’s Democratic Party (PDP)-controlled states following his declaration of Statev of Emergency in Rivers State and the suspension of its elected officers.
Sunday Telegraph remembers that President Tinubu had in March suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and your entire Rivers State Home of Meeting, citing a breakdown of public order amid the never-ending political tussle within the state.
Following their suspension, the President appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.) because the Sole Administrator of the state for six months.
In response to the event, PDP governors from 11 states challenged the transfer on the Supreme Court docket, accusing the president of constitutional overreach.
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Nonetheless, the Lawyer Common Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), representing the president, filed a preliminary objection describing the swimsuit as an abuse of court docket course of.
He argued that the governors lack locus standi, and that the case is “hypothetical, educational, and speculative.”
“We urge the Supreme Court docket to uphold our objection and dismiss the plaintiffs’ swimsuit,” Fagbemi acknowledged.
The presidency’s authorized crew insists that the swimsuit is politically motivated, noting that one of many plaintiffs, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, has since defected to the APC.
Moreover, Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno, one other plaintiff, lately endorsed Tinubu’s second-term bid and is reportedly contemplating becoming a member of the ruling get together.
In an affidavit filed alongside the objection, Taiye Hussain Oloyede, Particular Assistant to the President on Arbitration, defended Tinubu’s choice.
He cited escalating political tensions between Governor Fubara and state lawmakers, together with assaults on oil amenities, as legitimate grounds for invoking Part 305 of the Structure, which allows emergency declarations in circumstances of public dysfunction.
“The political unrest and sabotage of significant infrastructure posed a menace to nationwide stability and justified decisive motion,” Oloyede argued.
Oloyede additionally defended the Nationwide Meeting’s approval of the emergency rule. He rejected claims that lawmakers’ use of voice votes was unconstitutional, insisting that the 1999 Structure (as amended) doesn’t mandate particular person vote counting for such resolutions.
Moreover, he claimed the PDP governors filed the swimsuit out of worry that Tinubu may lengthen related declarations to their states.
“This swimsuit was filed in panic, to not right any precise unsuitable, however to attain political factors and harass the president,” Oloyede instructed the court docket.
He referred to as for the Supreme Court docket to dismiss the case with punitive prices, citing its alleged abuse of the judicial course of.
As of Saturday, the Supreme Court docket has not fastened a listening to date for the high-stakes constitutional case, which may have far-reaching implications for govt powers and inter-party politics.
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