The Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, on Wednesday blamed the imposition of state of emergency on Rivers State on the now-suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara’s failure to restrain militants from vandalizing oil pipelines in the State.
Fagbemi made the accusation while defending President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency hours earlier.
The Attorney General stated that although the Governor was not directly culpable, he failed to dissuade the militants from vandalizing the pipeline.
He said, “We are in a democracy. There were what I will call telegraphing of the militants, I will say, by the Governor. And the reason I say so, is, when he began, he said oh, he will let them know when it was time to act.
“Let us say it was false. Did he come out to disown them? The answer is no. And a week later, they swung into action. You saw or witnessed the vandalization of oil pipelines.”
Fagbemi argued that with the nation almost reliant on crude oil, anyone “touching” the pipeline is not only an enemy of Rivers but Nigeria.
The Minister stated that Fubara and the members of the State House of Assembly had to be suspended as they failed to ensure a conducive atmosphere for governance in the State.
Recall that President Tinubu, on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers State. He suspended the State Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
In his national broadcast, Tinubu cited prolonged political instability, constitutional breaches, and security threats as reasons for the extraordinary measure.