The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has faulted the reconciliation between suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, facilitated by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as an attempt to “politically whitewash constitutional illegality.”
In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the rights group criticised Fubara for what it described as a lack of courage to pursue justice through the courts following his suspension, which it said had no constitutional backing.
While acknowledging the Thursday, June 27, peace meeting that brought together President Tinubu, Wike, and Fubara, HURIWA insisted that no political truce can correct what it called the “gross and unconstitutional suspension” of a sitting governor and other elected officials in Rivers State.
The group stated, “Reconciliation cannot cure illegality. It is disappointing that Governor Fubara has chosen to go ‘cap-in-hand’ begging for peace rather than pursuing his case in a competent court.”
Naija News reports that HURIWA condemned Fubara’s decision not to challenge the matter legally, calling it a betrayal of democratic principles and a disservice to the people of Rivers State.
HURIWA also took a swipe at the Supreme Court, accusing it of stalling the hearing of a case filed by PDP governors challenging the President’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers.
The statement reads, “We got the intelligence that the Supreme Court failed to hear the matter timeously based on an agreement allegedly reached with President Tinubu to allow him pursue a political solution that will boost his 2027 second-term ambition.
“It is sad that Supreme Court Justices are now political players rather than ministers in the temple of justice.”
HURIWA maintained that the suspension of Governor Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all elected lawmakers in the state has no legal foundation under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“There is no provision under the 320 sections of the Nigerian Constitution that empowers the President to suspend elected state officials, even in a period of emergency,” Onwubiko said.
Citing Section 305 of the Constitution, HURIWA argued that while the President may declare a state of emergency in cases of extreme breakdown of law and order, it does not permit the removal or suspension of elected officials.
The group explained that only resignation, death, incapacitation, or impeachment can lead to a governor’s exit from office, and that in any vacancy, the Deputy Governor or Speaker of the State Assembly must assume duties as prescribed by law.
Describing the emergency rule in Rivers as a “contrived political setup,” HURIWA accused President Tinubu of using selective justice by acting swiftly in Rivers while ignoring far deadlier crises in APC-controlled states like Benue.
“The worst-case scenarios of mass killings and displacement happened in Benue, an APC state, yet Tinubu didn’t declare an emergency. This discriminatory approach clearly violates Section 42(1) of the Constitution, which prohibits political bias,” HURIWA said.
According to HURIWA, history will not forget the roles played by President Tinubu, Governor Fubara, and the current hierarchy of the Supreme Court in what it described as “a grand cover-up of unconstitutional action”.
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