We received the news of the blockade mounted in front
of Rivers Government House by the Nigeria Police Force on Thursday, September
12, 2013 with shock and disbelief. Rivers State Governor, H.E. Rotimi Amaechi
was as a result refused access to his own office in a manner that only
translates to illegal takeover of Rivers State Government by the Police
Authorities and suspension of all relevant powers of the Governor as the Chief
Security Officer of the State as provided by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. This
action of the Rivers Police Command is an assault on constitutional rule and
portends a descent to anarchy.
Since July 2013, the situation in Rivers continues to
constitute a major threat to our democracy. The inability of Federal
Authorities to exercise all the necessary constitutional and moral authority to
ensure speedy resolution of the crisis has remained a source of danger for our
democracy and the life of Governor Amaechi and those of other public officers
serving in the state. This is a bad precedent and we wonder if this is not a
signal for a similar bloackade to be mounted against the President at the
Presidential Villa.
This is unfortunate and all Nigerians must rise to this
challenge by calling on the Federal Government and all its agencies, including
all arms of the security services to respect the letter and spirit of the 1999
Nigerian Constitution. In the specific case of Rivers State, provisions of
Section 215(4) of the 1999 Constitution must be fully respected.
This section
provides that the Governor “may give to the Commissioner of Police of that
state such lawful directions with respect to the maintenance and security of
public safety and public order within the state as he may consider necessary,
and the Commissioner of Police shall comply with those directions or cause them
to be complied with”.
A situation whereby the Federal Government will use
powers vested in it under the constitution to bully and intimidate state
governments is unacceptable and should be resisted by every democratic
government. As Governors, we view events of September 12 in Rivers as a direct
affront on constitutional order in the country. We wish to unequivocally state
our resolve to work with all democrats in the country to ensure adequate
protection of democratic governance.
Enough is
Enough!
No comments:
Post a Comment