Rivers emergency: Another senator says Senate violated Nigerian Constitution

Senator Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto South) has raised concerns over the National Assembly’s approval of the emergency rule in Rivers State, stating that it lacked the constitutionally required two-thirds majority.

President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers last Tuesday, citing political instability and the destruction of oil infrastructure. His proclamation led to the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all state assembly members for six months. He also appointed retired Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the state’s sole administrator.

Despite widespread criticism—including opposition from the South-South Governors’ Forum—the Senate and House of Representatives approved Tinubu’s request through a voice vote, a method that does not verify the exact number of lawmakers in support.

Section 305(6) of the Nigerian Constitution mandates that an emergency declaration must be ratified by a two-thirds majority in both chambers. With 360 members in the House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate, at least 240 and 73 votes, respectively, were required.

Tambuwal, a lawyer and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, described the process as “unconstitutional”. He pointed out that past emergency declarations under Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan followed the two-thirds requirement, making the Rivers endorsement a deviation from legislative precedent.

Unconstitutional

“I will be speaking to you from the point of view of being a lawyer, a member of the body of benchers and a life bencher for that matter and not necessarily as a lawmaker who is a member of the 10th senate, and, in addition to that, possibly my experience as a former presiding officer, former speaker of the house of representatives who presided over a matter such as this in 2013,” he told The Sun on Sunday.

“Section 305 of the constitution is very clear. It is unambiguous, the language is very plain, of the constitution as to first, how the president can declare a state of emergency and what is required of the legislature, the two chambers — both the senate and the house of representatives before passing such a resolution.

“What is required is that you must obtain and have two-thirds of all the members of either of the two chambers, in support of the resolution.

“In the case of what happened in the senate, where I belong, I don’t know whether members of your team who are members of the press corps had the privilege of checking the (senate) register to see whether there were up to 72 or 73 senators on the floor. From what I saw, there was no such number on the floor on that day.

“So, if you juxtapose that to the requirement of the constitution which says that the senate must have two-thirds of its members, all of its members to pass that resolution in support of it, not just present and voting. No. Supporting it. It means that what was done fell short of the provision of the constitution.”

“Parliament is supposed to be guided by the constitution, its rules and its precedents,” he added.

“State of emergency was declared under President Olusegun Obasanjo. Two-thirds had to be garnered in the senate and the house of representatives.

“State of emergency was declared during the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in 2013 in Borno state. Also, in Adamawa and Yobe. We had to garner two-thirds.”

Seriake Dickson, senator representing Bayelsa west, also kicked against the Senate approval.