Nigerian lawyers have expressed their opposition to the measures imposed by the president in response to tensions
Nigeria’s parliament has approved President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency measures and the suspension of an opposition governor in oil-rich Rivers State, following a series of attacks that targeted crude oil pipelines.
The West African nation’s leader suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and local legislators elected in 2023 for a period of six months on Tuesday. He accused Fubara of failing to take action against “disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants.”
Tinubu appointed a retired Navy chief as the administrator of the state, which is located in the restive Niger Delta.
Prior to the move, the governor and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, were reportedly locked in a power struggle for several months. Both are members of the opposition People’s Democratic Party.
In a national address on Tuesday evening, President Tinubu said River State had been at a “standstill since the crisis started.”
The Nigerian Bar Association criticized Tinubu’s decision – arguing that tensions in the Rivers State have not “reached the level of a complete breakdown of law and order warranting the declaration of a state of emergency.”
“The power given to the President under Section 305 of the Constitution does not empower the President to suspend a Governor, Deputy Governor or other democratic organs of government,” the association said in a statement.
Some opposition legislators had also threatened to block the emergency measures. However, on Thursday, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved Tinubu’s orders.
The region, a crucial center for oil production and home to several major energy firms, including Nigerian LNG – Africa’s largest liquefied natural gas facility – has long struggled with sabotage and vandalism, disrupting output and exports.
An explosion was reported Tuesday in the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni area, following an earlier blast on the Trans Niger Delta Pipeline, in which Shell recently sold its shares to Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings. The British energy giant has been embroiled in longstanding legal disputes over environmental damage caused by decades of oil spills in Nigeria – claims it has consistently denied – blaming most of the leaks on illegal crude oil extraction.
