Rt. Hon. Linus Okorie, FCA, FCAI
When President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, many believed it was a necessary intervention to restore order. Others, however, saw through the constitutional justifications and labeled it for what it truly is: a civilian coup masquerading as legal emergency governance.
Dr. Jones Onyereri’s recent essay, “Dismantling the False Narrative of a ‘Coup’ in Rivers State,” attempts to refute these concerns with legal citations and administrative logic. Yet, a closer inspection reveals that the entire emergency process is riddled with constitutional breaches, political motivations, and authoritarian overreach. Far from dismantling the “false narrative,” Dr. Onyereri inadvertently reinforces the suspicion that democracy in Rivers has been hijacked, a state capture in progress—one regulation at a time.
A Misuse of Section 305
Dr. Onyereri’s defense of the emergency declaration is anchored on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the President to declare a state of emergency in certain circumstances. But this section does not give the President or the National Assembly a blank cheque.
Once a declaration is made and gazetted, the Constitution requires the National Assembly to approve or disapprove the declaration within a specific timeframe—not amend it. Yet in Rivers, the gazetted emergency order was significantly altered by the National Assembly before approval. That act alone renders the declaration constitutionally defective. An emergency proclamation is not a bill; it cannot be modified by legislative whims. In rewriting its scope, the National Assembly overstepped its constitutional boundaries and tainted the process with illegality.
Regulations Are Not Laws—But a Budget Is
Even under the state of emergency declaration gazetted by President Tinubu, the powers granted to the sole administrator were limited to making regulations, not enacting primary laws. But Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, the President’s appointed “Sole Administrator,” has already announced plans to prepare and implement the 2025 budget for Rivers State.
A budget is a major law, ordinarily passed by the State House of Assembly under Section 121 of the Constitution. In taking on this role, the Administrator is not just regulating—he is legislating. That’s a direct violation of the constitutional separation of powers, and it sets a dangerous precedent: a federal appointee, with no electoral mandate, exercising legislative authority in a federating unit.
A Takeover of Institutions
The list of unconstitutional actions continues to grow. Since assuming office, the Sole Administrator has:
- Dissolved and reconstituted the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission;
- Appointed a Secretary to the State Government;
- Replaced key officials on boards and agencies;
- And most egregiously, appointed new local government administrators.
These are not routine administrative decisions—they are acts of power traditionally reserved for a democratically elected governor and legislature. Worse, the appointment of LGA administrators directly violates Section 7(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees that local governments shall be governed by democratically elected councils. No emergency—real or imagined—gives the federal government the power to override this fundamental principle of Nigerian federalism.
Constitutional Suspension in Disguise
What is unfolding in Rivers is not stabilization; it is systematic subversion. The federal government has effectively suspended the Constitution in the state without calling it what it is. The elected governor has been sidelined. The legislative process has been replaced with administrative fiat. The judiciary has been ignored or selectively obeyed. Democratic institutions have been restructured to suit federal preferences.
This is not the restoration of law and order—it is the consolidation of federal control through unconstitutional means. It is, by all standards, a civilian coup.
The Wike Factor: Politics in the Shadows
Dr. Onyereri tries to dismiss suggestions that the intervention benefits Minister Nyesom Wike as speculative. But the political context cannot be ignored. The targets of restructuring have consistently been Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s allies, while many appointees are perceived to be Wike loyalists. The reconstitution of the state electoral commission, in particular, raises red flags ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This is not just governance—it is political engineering. And in doing so, the federal government has turned Rivers State into a testing ground for power without accountability; a progressive experimentation with state capture.
Conclusion: A Dangerous Precedent
Far from being a lawful and temporary intervention, the federal government’s actions in Rivers State represent a constitutional crisis. By exceeding the limits of Section 305, disregarding the autonomy of elected state institutions, and allowing a federally appointed administrator to assume powers far beyond what is permitted by law, Nigeria has entered uncharted and dangerous territory.
If this emergency order is allowed to stand, it sets a precedent for any federal administration to override state sovereignty in the name of stability. Today it is Rivers. Tomorrow, it could be any other dissenting state.
Call it what you will—but history will remember it as what it truly is: a coup in civilian clothing.
Rt. Hon. Linus Okorie, FCA, FCAI is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and former Member of the House of Representatives.