Fmr President Jonathan Expresses Disappointment Over Suspension of Fubara
Abuja (Core Reporters) Nigerian former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s decision to suspend elected officials in Rivers State, saying that the move could damage the country’s image.
While speaking as the Chairman at the Haske Satumari Foundation Colloquium in Abuja on Saturday, Jonathan said he was disappointed that elected officials had been removed.
Jonathan made this known in Abuja on Saturday, March 22, 2025, while speaking as the Chairman at the Haske Satumari Foundation Colloquium expressing his disappointment, stating that the actions of key government actors “paint the country in a negative light”
This development comes after President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly for six months. The President cited Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, stating that the emergency measure was necessary to restore peace in the state ¹.
However, Jonathan’s criticism highlights the concerns surrounding the suspension of elected officials and the potential implications for the country’s democracy. The situation in Rivers State has been marked by political turmoil, with disagreements between the state governor and lawmakers.
However, Jonathan while sharing his thoughts about the political turmoil in Rivers, said although it is not the norm for former presidents to comment on issues in the polity so as not to heat up the polity, he insisted that the image of the country and how much investments a country attracts is heavily dependent on the actions of the executive, legislature and judiciary of the country.
According to him, his comment was necessitated by persistent calls from many Nigerians to speak on the events in Rivers State as a prominent son of the Niger Delta.
He decried the situation where an individual can dictate to the judiciary what to do, saying that it makes it difficult for anyone to have faith in the judiciary.
In response to the crisis, President Tinubu appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas as the state’s administrator to oversee governance. The declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette and forwarded to the National Assembly.
Tinubu said, “It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.”
