March 19, 2025 — Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, a prominent opposition figure, has urged the Tinubu-led Federal Government to restore elected officials in Rivers State. He expressed serious concerns about President Tinubu’s decision to suspend these officials, stating that such actions are clearly unjustified and unconstitutional.
El-Rufai emphasized that Nigeria’s Constitution does not allow an elected president to suspend state-level officials, warning that this practice threatens the country’s democratic federalism. He noted, “The responsibilities of a president are heavy and extensive, but they are constrained by the Constitution and the law and certainly do not include firing persons who were elected.”
While he acknowledged the security issues raised in the President’s speech, El-Rufai argued that a state of emergency could have been declared to provide security agencies with the extra powers they need to address these threats without dismantling democratic structures. He described the extension of such emergency measures to include the suspension of elected officials as a “wanton aggression against democratic tenets and the rule of law.” He cited a Supreme Court ruling that declared the suspension of elected officials unlawful in a past case.
Read Also: Air Peace Announces Fare Cuts on London-Lagos Route
El-Rufai called on President Tinubu to restore elected officials in Rivers State and review his decision to return to the path of constitutionalism and the rule of law. As an opposition figure, Senator Bola Tinubu had made his voice heard against the decision of then President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of emergency in the North-East, even when that decision did not extend to the suspension of elected officials and institutions. A similar reconsideration is warranted in this case to contain the damage done to the people of Rivers State, and restore the Federal Government to compliance with the Constitution.
He warned against allowing history to repeat itself, referring to the emergency rule in the old Western Region in 1962, and urged “all patriots and voices of reason” to join in opposing this violation of the Constitution and the rule of law.
