The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, has backed President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, saying the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, trampled on democracy.
According to reports, after 15 months of political unrest in the oil-rich South-South state, the President declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, 18th March 2025, in a nationwide broadcast.
The President also invoked the provisions of Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State, while also suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers Assembly for an initial period of six months.
While several quarters have criticised the President’s constitutional authority to take such action, Morka, in an exclusive interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, which was monitored by our correspondent in Abeokuta on Tuesday, lambasted the opposition.
He said, “Everyone commenting has been speaking from a place of political bias; they’re not being objective. If they had been objective, I bet that I would have been invited to discuss the protracted actions of Governor Fubara in desecrating democracy. He was slapping democracy in the face by his actions.
“Shortly after he was elected into office, he moved to replace the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who was also elected like him. When his attempt to remove the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, failed, the governor pulled down the Assembly complex, effectively stalling legislative activities in the state. Yet none of these so-called opposition voices made high-sounding speeches or commentaries. Peter Obi did not say a word while Fubara sought to abolish the state legislature. He then proceeded to freeze every flow of money.”
Defending the state of emergency, Morka emphasised that President Tinubu acted within the framework of Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution, which empowers the President to declare a state of emergency in cases of severe threats to national security or governance.
According to him, intelligence reports indicated escalating security risks, including threats to critical oil infrastructure in Rivers State, after the biggest pipeline in Nigeria, the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP, was reportedly vandalised.
Morka further pointed out that the declaration was not a unilateral decision but was later ratified by a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is a multi-partisan body, not just an APC, PDP, or Labour Party assembly. It is the assembly of all parties with elected representatives. Together, having considered all the information available to them, they approved the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.”
One of the most controversial aspects of the declaration is the suspension of Governor Fubara. Critics, including members of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, have argued that Section 188 of the Constitution outlines a clear process for removing a governor, which was not followed in this case.
However, Morka contended that the President did not remove the governor but merely suspended him as an extraordinary measure to stabilise the state.
He cited Section 5, Subsection 3 of the Constitution, which states that a governor must not exercise executive authority in a way that undermines the federal government.
Morka, however, dismissed these criticisms, questioning why PDP governors and leaders failed to address the crisis before it escalated, accusing them of ignoring the governor’s actions for months, only to challenge the intervention when the federal government stepped in.
