The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, cannot be blamed for the declaration of State of Emergency in Rivers State.
Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, who said this on Thursday, rather blamed Fubara who was accused of taking the law into his hands by destroying the State House of Assembly Complex.
He said, “There are occasions when it comes to national issues. We have to come out plainly. Was Wike the one who asked the State Assembly to be demolished? I don’t see the hand of the Minister of the FCT in what happened.”
The Minister said the Supreme Court sensing that he might be impeached, Fubara ordered the demolition of the House of Assembly to prevent that.
He said since the apex court had concluded that there was no government in Rivers, the only thing a responsible leader would do was the decision taken on Tuesday.
“The President took a very bold decision. As things stand we have a duty to give maximum respect to the judgement of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Fagbemi told those not happy with the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers to approach the National Assembly
“If the National Assembly feels what the President did was not okay, he will not have two third from the National Assembly. We are expecting that within 48 hours something will come out.”
Tinubu was criticised by top politicians and opposition parties for declaring the state of emergency.
Among those who blamed the president were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar who accused Tinubu for not acting before the political feud between Wike and Fubara escalated to the level it went.
For the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Tinubu contravened the 1999 constitution by declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, just as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) also accused the president of not following due process in giving the order.
Top flight Editor-in-Chief/CEO of this newspaper, Malam Mahmud Jega accused Wike of being the key to the creation and perpetuation of the political crisis rocking the state, warning that unless something is done about that, the problem will never be resolved.
He said the state of emergency will not solve the problem in Rivers State, adding that “I don’t think so because as was pointed out, just as the President enumerated the misdeeds of Governor Fubara, he should have also said a few things about the minister of the FCT who is actually very central to the creation and perpetration of this problem.”
