Rights activist Aisha Yesufu and other campaigners came out on Saturday, slamming President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency in Rivers State. At a press conference in Abuja, they demanded he bring back Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, saying the move breaks Nigeria’s constitution. Yesufu, a big voice from the #BringBackOurGirls movement, warned that letting this slide could mess up democracy for good, urging Nigerians to fight for what many died to build.
The heat’s on after the National Assembly backed Tinubu’s emergency call on Thursday with a quick voice vote, even as opposition leaders begged them to say no. Yesufu and her crew, joined by groups like Citizens and Civil Society Organisations, trashed the lawmakers for bending to the President’s will. She said it’s sad to see elected folks serve themselves instead of the people, stressing that the constitution’s the boss and this “rascality” has to stop or no state’s safe next.
Anthony Ubani from FixPolitics, speaking for 300 coalitions, promised a storm of lawsuits to challenge Tinubu’s power grab. He called the suspension of Rivers’ leaders a dictator’s trick, not democracy, and begged the National Assembly to stand up for the law. Ubani’s crew wants the courts to dig into this mess proper, no dodging with technicalities. With Nigerians watching, they say if Rivers falls quiet now, every state could be next in line.