HURIWA accuses Tinubu of dictatorship, criticizes NGF’s silence on Rivers crisis

In a fiery condemnation of the political crisis rocking Rivers State, frontline civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has lashed out at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, accusing him of orchestrating a civilian coup against Governor Siminalayi Fubara under the guise of a baseless state of emergency. HURIWA also carpeted the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the National Assembly for their cowardly silence and complicity, warning that their inaction amounts to aiding the gradual destruction of constitutional democracy in Nigeria.

The group, in a statement released on Sunday, berated the NGF for what it described as gross irresponsibility and selfish partisanship following the forum’s refusal to speak out against the unconstitutional suspension of Governor Fubara and the Rivers State legislature. HURIWA maintained that the NGF’s latest self-serving declaration, attempting to justify its silence on partisan political issues, betrays a dangerous lack of understanding of the principles of constitutional democracy, especially when one of its own members is under direct attack by the Federal Government.

HURIWA, through its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, faulted the NGF’s claim that it avoids divisive political matters to preserve unity, stating categorically that the attack on Governor Fubara transcends political affiliations and threatens the very soul of Nigeria’s democracy. The rights group emphasized that remaining neutral in the face of outright illegality is not neutrality but cowardice, adding that their silence signals complicity.

HURIWA further flayed President Tinubu for engaging in what it described as “constitutional suicide and civilian coup plotting” by purportedly suspending a sitting, duly elected governor and legislature without any justifiable basis under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.

The association challenged the legality of the President’s actions, emphasizing that Section 305 explicitly outlines conditions under which a state of emergency may be declared—conditions such as actual breakdown of law and order, natural disasters, or imminent war. HURIWA queried the whereabouts of any war, breakdown of law, or civil disorder in Rivers State to warrant the imposition of such draconian measures.

“Where is the war in Rivers State? Where is the lawlessness or breakdown of public order?” Onwubiko queried. “All that neutral observers can see is a grand political game plan by the Presidency to violate the constitution and orchestrate a civilian coup, aided shamelessly by the National Assembly and a cowardly Nigeria Governors’ Forum.”

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HURIWA did not spare the National Assembly, accusing lawmakers of betraying their constitutional duties by rubber-stamping the President’s unconstitutional takeover of governance in Rivers State. The rights group described their actions as a “collaboration in constitutional harakiri,” asserting that legislators are now willing tools in the Executive’s plot to subvert democracy.

Furthermore, HURIWA warned that if the judiciary fails to stand as the last hope of democracy and instead upholds this blatant illegality, Nigeria will have effectively replaced democracy with dictatorship, masked in legal jargon.

The group also pointedly reminded President Tinubu of the hypocrisy in his stance as ECOWAS Chairman. While condemning military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic, Tinubu is actively facilitating a civilian coup at home by attempting to install an illegal sole administrator in Rivers State, HURIWA said.

“This is nothing short of constitutional suicide,” HURIWA declared. “The suspension of Governor Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly is patently unlawful, unconstitutional, and a grave threat to Nigeria’s democratic existence.”

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HURIWA called on all governors elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to urgently approach the Supreme Court to seek judicial interpretation of Section 305 and challenge this constitutional aberration. The rights group urged Nigerians to watch closely whether the apex court will defend the sanctity of the Constitution or align with the Executive and National Assembly in undermining the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy.

“This is not about Fubara or the PDP. It is about the survival of constitutional rule in Nigeria,” HURIWA concluded. “If the governors and the courts fail to act, we might as well accept that democracy has been replaced by autocracy.”