The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has expressed deep shock and concern over Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s decision to seek reconciliation with President Bola Tinubu, facilitated by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
According to HURIWA, Fubara’s actions demonstrate a lack of resolve to challenge the illegality of his suspension and the appointment of a sole administrator in a competent court of law.
HURIWA also criticised the Supreme Court for allegedly stalling the hearing and determination of a suit challenging the suspension of Governor Fubara, instituted by over a dozen governors elected under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The group accused the apex court of pandering to President Tinubu’s whims and political caprices.
HURIWA emphasized that reconciliation cannot cure illegality and questioned why Governor Fubara would “cap-in-hand beg for reconciliation” instead of pursuing the legal battle to its logical conclusion.
The group’s concerns highlight the ongoing controversy surrounding the suspension of Governor Fubara and the role of the Supreme Court in addressing the matter.
HURIWA said, “We got the intelligence that the Supreme Court failed to hear the matter timeously based on an agreement the hierarchy allegedly reached with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to let him work out a political solution that would boost his 2027 second-term political ambition. It is sad that the Supreme Court justices are now political players rather than ministers in the Temple of Justice.”
HURIWA expressed disappointment that rather than pursue the matter of his illegal uprooting from the constitutionally guaranteed tenured office as the Rivers State Governor for four years, the cowardly Mr. Fubara opted for political reconciliation with his erstwhile estranged political godfather, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who is the Minister of the FCT.
In a media statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA maintained thus: “The ill-advised and illegal decision of President Bola Tinubu to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months remains absolutely illegal, as it cannot be justified under any of the provisions of the 320 sections of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
“There is no doubt Section 305 of the Constitution empowers the President to take extraordinary measures to restore law and order if, among other reasons, there is an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof to such an extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security, or there is a clear and present danger of an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the Federation or any part thereof requiring extraordinary measures to avert such danger.”
HURIWA, however, restated that the extraordinary measures which may be adopted by the President to restore peace and security in the Federation or in any particular state do not include the suspension of an elected Governor, an elected Deputy Governor, and the dissolution of other democratic structures.
For the avoidance of doubt, Section 45(3) of the Constitution provides that a ‘period of emergency’ means “any period during which there is in force a Proclamation of a State of Emergency declared by the President in exercise of the powers conferred on him under Section 305 of this Constitution.”
“Thus, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the office of an elected Governor can only become vacant upon death, ill health, resignation, or impeachment. Even where the office of the Governor becomes vacant for any reason whatsoever, the Deputy Governor shall be sworn in as the Governor.”
“Besides, where the offices of the Governor and Deputy Governor become vacant at the same time, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly shall become an Acting Governor for not more than three months. During the three-month period, a fresh election shall be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the election of a new Governor.”
HURIWA makes bold to state that it is pertinent to emphasize that the failure of a House of Assembly to function in Rivers State cannot be a justification for the dissolution of democratic structures in any state of the Federation.
Indeed, the Constitution had envisaged that a State House of Assembly may not be able to function due to one reason or another. Hence, Section 11(4) of the Constitution stipulates as follows, including the transfer of such powers of law-making to the National Assembly.
HURIWA affirmed that the Thursday, June 27, reconciliation between the warring parties in Rivers State can never cure the absolute illegality of the suspension of the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara. Even as HURIWA asserted that when pictures of President Bola Tinubu beaming with smiles and sandwiched by an equally excited Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, and ‘suspended’ Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State emerged on various social media platforms—and the confirmation of a truce by the embattled Governor of Rivers State—it is evident that a political reconciliation has been actualized, meaning that the reinstatement of the suspended Governor is imminent.
“The Thursday widely publicized meeting of the warring parties was one of several peace meetings brokered by the President to reconcile the two warring factions, led by Wike against his political godson, Fubara, on the other hand. The crisis had lingered for close to two years, with both parties not willing to sheathe the sword.”
The rights group noted that President Tinubu hastily declared a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, 2025, to—in his own words—”douse the rising political tension” that the President perceived (although wrongly) as almost consuming the political soul of the state.
HURIWA argued that worse-case scenarios of mass killings and massive violence happened in Benue State, which is an APC state, but President Bola Tinubu failed to declare an emergency—just as the rights group said this policy flip-flop of Tinubu violates Section 42(1) of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of political affiliations.
The rights group maintained that the suspension of all the Rivers State democratic structures by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had ignited an unprecedented crisis that denied the people of the state the opportunity of actively participating in the celebration of the two years in office of the Fubara administration, held on May 29 and the June 12 Democracy Day.
Vice Admiral Ibok Etteh Ibas (retd) was appointed as the Sole Administrator of the state, with express instruction to ensure the restoration of peace and security for an initial six months.
But with the Thursday late-night peace meeting—which included the representative of the State House of Assembly, Speaker Martin Amaewhule, Fubara, Wike, and a handful of stakeholders—hope has once again been ignited that the Governor may return to his duty post any time soon.
But HURIWA thinks that the political reconciliation is a charade which is being contrived to cover up the unambiguous illegality committed by President Tinubu when he unilaterally, without justification in law, suspended all democratic structures and proceeded to set up a military contraption to govern Rivers State for six months.
HURIWA said that posterity and history will hit the trio of the current hierarchy of the Supreme Court, President Tinubu, and Governor Fubara very hard for committing gross illegality and then attempting to apply political reconciliation to muddy up the entire charade in the name of arriving at a solution to the Rivers State’s convoluted political warfare.
