The Presidency has brushed aside the African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemnation of President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the emergency rule in Rivers State, stating that the President took action within the Constitution to safeguard Nigeria’s federal system.
Presidential Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, in a message on his verified X handle, @SundayDareSD, labeled the ADC’s allegations of autocracy and manipulation as “laughable” and “nuisance politics.”
He said that Tinubu invoked Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to prevent bloodshed and restore government when law and order were out of control in Rivers.
“The Constitution is clear: under Section 305, the President has the power and the duty to act where law and order are seriously threatened. What the President restored is stability, the reinstatement of democratic institutions, and peace in Rivers State. Nigerians can see the difference: President Tinubu did what was right. That is what posterity will hold him for,” Dare said.
He also dismissed ADC’s claim that federalism was undermined, arguing instead that Tinubu’s intervention rescued the elected officials in the state from being turned into presidential appointees.
“No Nigerian alive today has fought more for the independence of states than Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as a former Governor. What ADC offers Nigerians is belated pontification and mere noise. What the President offered is order, peace, and stability,” he stated.
The Presidency contended that the action was neither partisan nor arbitrary but a constitutional necessity to rescue Rivers State and, by extension, the Nigerian federation.
