• Says It Saved Fubara from Impeachment

• Safiu Kehinde

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, has explained why the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, was not involved in the state of emergency declaration on Rivers State.

NPO Reported that President Bola Tinubu had on Tuesday night declared a state of emergency in Rivers over the unresolved political crisis in the state.

The President further declared six-month suspension of the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

This had sparked outrage from the public with notable Nigerians labelling the suspension of Fubara and the legislatures and unconstitutional.

Some had also raised eyebrow over the President’s exclusion of Nyesom Wike whom they considered to be a principal actor in the crisis rocking the state.

Fagbemi, while addressing newsmen at Abuja on Wednesday, harped on the need to be plain and sincere when it comes to national issues.

Speaking on Wike’s exclusion, the AGF defended the FCT Minister, stressing that he was not involved in the crisis.

He backed his claim with the Supreme Court ruling, stressing that he was never mentioned in the ruling.

“There occasions especially when it comes to National issues, we have to come out plainly and sincerely.

“Was he the one who asked for the demolition of the House of Assembly? Was he the one who said the governor should not present his budget to the House of Assembly? Was he the one who advised the gov not go to the House of Assembly to ratify the nominee?

“The Supreme Court made critical findings. FCT Minister did not feature. Assuming he featured, the would have featured maybe on the side of the legislature. But what we have here is let everybody go home for the next six months. I don’t see his hand in the situation.” Fagbemi said.

The AGF further claimed that Tinubu’s declaration of state of emergency saved Fubara from impeachment.

He said that the Rivers governor would have lost entirely as the state Assemble had issued a notice of impeachment against him prior to the declaration.

This, according to Fagbemi, would have seen the governor and his deputy completely out of their offices if the impeachment was allowed to run its full course.

“There was notice of impeachment from the House of Assembly. If that impeachment had been allowed to run its full course, then the governor (Fubara) would have lost entirely and completely.

“So, in a way, if you say it’s a compromise, I would agree that instead of allowing the impeachment process to continue, and which in the end would have seen both the governor and the deputy governor out of office for the entirety of the four years term.

“If normalcy returns, some other things may come in. Maybe it is a compromise, I will agree.”