Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Oba Maduabuchi, has condemned the upcoming local government elections scheduled to be conducted in Rivers State under a declared state of emergency, describing the move as “a complete aberration” and “a rape of the constitution.”
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Speaking on Arise News Night, the seasoned constitutional lawyer criticized the Federal Government’s justification for organizing council polls under conditions that, by constitutional definition, suspend democratic operations.
“Section 305 of the Constitution outlines clear conditions for declaring a state of emergency: war, imminent threat, or total breakdown of law and order,” Maduabuchi explained. “If any of these conditions truly exist, how then are elections being conducted? That contradiction alone invalidates the rationale for the emergency.”
He noted that while the President had suspended the Governor and House of Assembly under the emergency proclamation, the appointment of an “administrator” not recognized in the constitution to oversee governance and elections raises legal and moral red flags.
“The constitution recognizes a Governor, not an administrator,” he said. “You cannot suspend a duly elected governor, dismantle local governance, and then stage elections without restoring democratic structures.”
Maduabuchi warned that proceeding with the polls while the state of emergency is still in effect could delegitimize the electoral outcome and embolden further constitutional violations.
Citing INEC’s refusal to conduct by-elections in parts of Rivers due to the same emergency, he questioned the legality of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) conducting full-scale LG polls under identical conditions.
“INEC, a federal body, says elections can’t hold in certain parts of Rivers due to the state of emergency. Yet RSIEC is going ahead. That’s a contradiction that highlights the illegality of the process,” he said.
He expressed concern that the delayed lifting of the emergency might be part of a broader political strategy to weaken Governor Siminalayi Fubara by populating the local government system with opponents before his return to office.
“You don’t suspend a governor illegally, strip him of his powers, and then reinstall him as a lame duck,” Maduabuchi lamented. “There is clearly an agenda at play here.”
He also criticized the judiciary’s slow response to legal challenges against the state of emergency and the controversial defection of 27 lawmakers from the PDP to APC.
“These matters should have been expedited. If the courts delay until after elections, the issues become academic. The damage would have already been done,” he warned.
With Rivers local government elections scheduled for August 30, Maduabuchi called for immediate lifting of the state of emergency and restoration of democratic institutions, stressing that any poll held under emergency rule would lack legitimacy.
“You don’t hold elections in a democracy that has been suspended. First, restore democracy. Then talk of elections,” he concluded.
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