By Abiola Olawale
Following the declaration of a state of emergency on Rivers State and the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, his deputy Ngozi Odu and the lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, a video of renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has made it to the public space again
This is as many have revisited Falana’s stance on the 2013 state of emergency declaration by then-President Goodluck Jonathan, emphasizing the legal boundaries of presidential authority in such situations.
Speaking in the context of the emergency measures imposed in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states due to escalating security challenges, Falana had praised Jonathan for adhering to constitutional provisions and resisting pressures to remove elected governors in the affected regions.
The New Diplomat reports that in 2013, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three northeastern states amid a breakdown of law and order, primarily driven by insurgent activities.
Falana, in his commentary at the time, underscored that unlike his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo who removed elected governors in Plateau and Ekiti states during emergency declarations in 2004 and 2006, Jonathan refrained from dissolving democratic structures.
The legal luminary highlighted a critical constitutional safeguard, citing the proviso to Section 11(4), which states that even during a state of emergency, the President and the National Assembly’s authority to assume legislative powers in an affected state does not extend to removing a governor or deputy governor from office.
Falana had argued: “An elected governor can only be removed by impeachment, resignation, or on grounds of infirmity of body or mind—not through a state of emergency.
“There is no provision in the nigerian constitution for the president to remove a state governor, or for the state governor to remove local government chairmen. Nobody can infact remove an elected official.”
