The Presidency has claimed President Bola Tinubu followed the constitution to declare state of emergency in Rivers State.
It was reacting to comments made by the African Democratic Congress, ADC on Rivers State, accusing Tinubu of engaging in autoritarian tendencies.
The Special Adviser on Media and Communication to President Bola Tinubu, Sunday Dare said the Nigerian constitution is clear, “under Section 305, that the President has the power, and the duty, to act when law and order are under grave threat.”
Reacting to ADC’s claim of autocracy and manipulation in Rivers State, Dare said the president exercised his powers by invoking the provisions of section 305 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to prevent bloodshed and restore governance in Rivers State.
A terse statement by Dare said: “ADC’s claims of “autocracy” and “manipulation” collapse under simple fact. The emergency framework is constitutional, not whimsical.
“Rivers officials were never reduced to “appointees” they were shielded from chaos and reinstated once order returned. To accuse the President of undermining federalism is laughable; as a former Governor, no Nigerian alive presently, has fought harder for state autonomy than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Protecting Rivers is protecting Nigeria.
“What ADC offers Nigerians is late pontification and empty noise. What the President delivered is stability, the return of democratic institutions, and peace in the Rivers State.
“Nigerians can see the difference: President Tinubu acted right. That is what posterity will remember him for.@officialABAT @OfficialAPCNg#Riversemergency”
