PDP govs condemns emergency rule in Rivers, alleges Tinubu’s bias for Wike

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have condemned the state of emergency in Rivers State, particularly the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and other democratic structures.

The governors described as unacceptable President Bola Tinubu’s alleged political bias in favour of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Nyesom Wike, in the crisis in Rivers State.

A statement by the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and governor of Bauchi State, Bala Mohammed, made it clear that the governors stand in solidarity with Fubara and the good people of Rivers State “at this very difficult and trying moment in the state’s political history. There is no other time that our philosophy of ‘TOUCH ONE, TOUCH ALL’ is more apt than now.”

On the alleged bias of the President, the governors said: “He who goes to the court of equity must go with clean hands. Mr. President, your silence on the active role played by your Minister of the FCT in the Rivers impasse is golden and enabling. He has become a law unto himself because he is playing out your script. Now we know. This is totally unstatesmanlike, biased, and divisive.

“We state categorically that this unwarranted but premeditated attack on Rivers State, the Peoples Democratic Party, and other opposition parties is today the greatest threat to democracy in our dear country, Nigeria. It is an ill wind that will blow no one any good. It is a dangerous course of action that will not only endanger our hard-won democracy but will exacerbate the crises in the nation, deepen mistrust, elevate security threats, destroy the economy, and undermine our national cohesion and stability.”

The PDP governors adopted the position of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and announced their intention to seek judicial interpretation of Section 305 of the Constitution, which President Tinubu relied upon to declare the state of emergency in Rivers State.

“Mr. President is therefore called upon to listen to wise counsel and the voice of reason, accept that he made grievous mistakes and acted in haste, and reverse this atrocious and retrograde decision before it is too late,” the governors stated.