The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have disagreed over the state of emergency imposed in Rivers State by President Tinubu.

While APC in a statement issued on Tuesday stated that it was to forestall a looming breakdown of law and order in the state, the NNPP said that it was unconstitutional.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had in a National Broadcast on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers State by suspending the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara alongside his Deputy, Ngozi Odu and Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The decision of the President has however attracted reactions from different quarters.

Supporting the President, the APC in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka said, “Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the author of the extreme events that have unfolded in Rivers state.

“When he brazenly demolished the Rivers State House of Assembly, Fubara destroyed the very foundation of democracy in the state.

“When he “governed” the state without a legislature, Fubara ended government in the state.

“When he expended state funds without valid legislative appropriation, Fubara stripped himself of all constitutional protections of the office of Governor.

“There cannot be a governor without a legislature and the judiciary.

“All three arms of government, although separate in their constitutional powers, must co-exist in order to have a government known to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“As the Supreme Court confirmed, there was no government in the state and there had not been a government since Fubara destroyed the state legislature.

“By his reckless actions, Fubara asked for and set the stage for this outcome.

“The declaration of a state of emergency, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was a necessary, constitutionally-backed measure to protect lives and property and extend governance to the good people of Rivers state.

“The safety and well-being of the people is paramount at this time and must triumph above all political considerations.

“Again, President Tinubu has demonstrated courage and leadership in forestalling a looming breakdown of law and order in the state.”

However, NNPP in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Ladipo Johnson declared that the action of the president was not only unconstitutional but also “an absurd political decision and a very dangerous precedent”.

Further, he said, “Of course, the presidential fiat invoking Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution is arbitrary in the circumstances, to say the least, particularly on the conditions precedent and implications for democracy and development of the country.

“It is clearly a dangerous precedent which can only be interpreted as an absurd political manipulation on the part of the Federal Government.

“Why the rush to proclaim a State of Emergency without the conditions precedent as required by law?

“Doesn’t the president’s action vitiate the rule of law he talked about in his speech?

“Hasn’t he, by this rash action shown us that he does not fully understand the long-term implications and have the requisite skills required to rule a complex country like Nigeria? Or is it about his Party’s much-touted political interest in Rivers State ahead 2027?”

“These are questions germane to this unfortunate decision which of course sends frightening signals both locally and internationally regarding the rule of law and overall state of things in our union.”

NNPP said the statement was unequivocal and that President Bola Tinubu was ill-advised, saying that he should have acted as a father for the parties involved in the Rivers State quagmire instead of being seen as one-sided and vindictive.

“Yes, this rational deduction could be gleaned even from the sequence of his speech which gives away Emergency Rule proclamation as a political orchestration towards a political end”.

This sort of action was what the NNPP had warned Nigerians and the people of Kano against, which it saw being orchestrated by some evil forces during the Emirate crisis.

But for the maturity of the Governor and the good people of Kano State who avoided being “tricked” into taking their resistance onto the streets, the same scenario might have played out with an unjustifiable declaration of a State of Emergency in Kano State.

The NNPP, however, reckoned with the implication of the declaration of the State of Emergency for the economy, warning that it was a decision capable of triggering restlessness in the Niger Delta with disastrous effects on the national economy.

“Now the challenge is how to deal with a possible implosion in the Niger Delta over this matter. Are we seeing signs of this as per the incidents in the State in the last few days and how this could affect oil production as the nation’s economic mainstay?”

Calling on the Presidency to immediately reverse its decision, the Party also called on members of the National Assembly to reject what is tantamount to a “presidential coup against a constitutionally elected government of the people in Rivers State.”