T for Terrible President
Nigerian lawyers are calling out Tinubu for breaking the law
Good morning, Big Brains. I had the worst migraine yesterday and I blame Tinubu for it. Everything and everyone is starting to point back to that man. He might even be responsible for Nigeria’s heat wave at this point.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1, 000
Reading time ~ 5 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
Nigerian lawyers are calling out Tinubu for breaking the law
Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara residents are tired of paying for the barest minimum
The Big Deal
Nigerian lawyers are calling out Tinubu for breaking the law
It’s not everyday we see a godfather become his godson’s biggest opp, but Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former governor of Rivers state has proven that these things happen outside of Nollywood more than you realize.
On Tuesday, March 18, the internet went crazy after President Tinubu suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months. The president swears it is nothing personal; he’s just trying to contain the political unrest that can be traced back to the power play between Wike and Fubara. He backed up the decision with section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which defines a state of emergency as a situation of national danger, disaster or terrorist attacks in which a government suspends standard constitutional procedures to regain control. The danger or attack in this case is the reported explosion of pipelines in the state.
If you’re thinking, “Why the hell are two grown men dragging themselves in the mud like this?” you’re thinking in the right direction. Power is the reason. The power play between them has split the state house assembly into two factions, with one faction showing loyalty to Fubara and the other to Wike.
In December, some of the commissioners under Fubara’s administration resigned, one of them being a man who served as Wike’s chief of staff for 8 years. This suggests that Wike imposed these commissioners on Fubara, a subtle way of saying, “I put you in power, now I’ll tell you how to rule.” Some civil servants in the state are now threatening to protest against the faction of the state house assembly on Wike’s side.
In less than 24 hours after Tinubu’s announcement, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) came out with a quick “Not so fast” PSA for the president. According to these legal professionals, Fubara’s suspension is “unconstitutional and an alarming breach of Nigeria’s federal structure”.
Why is this a big deal?
The NBA says Tinubu’s recent action looks like the move of a man running the country like it’s his daddy’s property.
Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution allows the president to declare a state of emergency, but it doesn’t give him the power to remove elected officials. That’s where Section 188 comes in, laying out the only legal way to remove a governor or deputy through impeachment, not presidential decree. The same applies to House of Assembly members, who can only be removed through due electoral and constitutional processes. In simpler terms, Tinubu can’t just wake up, declare an emergency, and send a sitting governor packing. That’s how a toxic workplace works, not a democratic country.
The NBA debated whether the situation in Rivers even qualifies for emergency rule. There’s political tension, but is it on the same level as a full-scale insurgency or a natural disaster? When former president Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in all the northeastern states affected by insurgency in May 2013, Tinubu quickly read him for filth, suggesting that the declaration was politically motivated.
But here we are, watching Tinubu become what he criticised by using the same Section 305 to meddle in political beef. Even if the emergency declaration was legitimate, it still needs National Assembly approval within two to ten days. So, unless Tinubu is confirming that he has the Senate President on speed dial to do his dirty business, this whole move looks like an abuse of power.
At its core, this isn’t just about Rivers State; it’s about a democratic president moving like a dictator. If the president can remove elected officials under the cover of an emergency, what other law will he bend to prove a point?
Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara residents are tired of paying for the barest minimum
We can bet President Tinubu is either having a serious migraine or sipping a chilled drink while watching Nigerians rant on social media. First, it was #30DaysRant on Twitter. Now, it’s the good people of Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara who are currently taking their complaints from Twitter threads to the real world because, at this point, frustration is the only thing Nigerians can comfortably afford.
These residents are speaking against poor electricity and terrible network services, which have refused to go away despite recent hike in electricity and telecom tariffs. Their pain is worsened by the fact that their annual income has remained stagnant for years while their basic needs have quickly become luxury items.
Residents in the Sokoto metropolis also reported that they barely get 12 hours of power daily, and many have turned to generators. Even the Commissioner for Energy and Petroleum Resources, Sanusi Ibrahim, is begging Kano Electricity Distribution Company to stop making people pay for darkness.
We wonder if the #30DaysRant challenge will grow into a bigger problem for Tinubu in the coming weeks. And if it does, you’ll hear it from us first.
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→Full Text: Fubara Reacts to Tinubu’s Declaration of a State of Emergency and His Suspension: Fubara’s official statement on the matter was made available to journalists by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Joe Johnson. Read the full text of the governor’s message below.
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This Week’s Big Question
”What’s something you used to buy easily before Tinubu but now feels like a luxury?”
Jessica’s response - “Chicken wings used to be my go-to snack. Whether I was working, relaxing, or watching a movie, I always had some fried and ready to munch on. But now? I can’t even afford them. The last time I had chicken was in December because, at this point, the cost of living in Nigeria is making it hard to actually live. Ponmo and Panla fish will soon grow on my head.”
You can also share your response here, and if it’s as interesting as Jessica’s, we’ll feature it in the next edition.
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Play catch up
We weren’t familiar with your game
In December 2024, President Tinubu promised to make sure that inflation drops to 15% by the end of 2025, but we called him delulu. Well, here’s us officially eating our words and swallowing them because we weren’t familiar with his game
For a supposed big man like tinubu to be doing boy boy for ordinary wike is falling hand of the highest order. He has left his original mandate to serve the country in order to serve one drunken fool with a voice that can wake up the dead
Nigeria matter just weak me and I hope to God this 30days rant challenge doesn't lose momentum and actually snowballs to something that makes the over pampered supposed leaders of this Nation either shape up or get the fuck out and live the rest of their miserable old lives in exile and shame