Buhari, Ortom
Ade Adesomoju, Abuja
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and legal
books author, Mr. Sebastine Hon, has said the speculation for a likely
declaration of a state of emergency in Benue State following the
killings by Fulani herdsmen was baseless.
Hon, a citizen of Benue State, said, in a
statement, that the speculation that President Muhammadu Buhari could
remove the Governor of Benue State, Mr. Samuel Ortom, to enforce the
declaration of the state of emergency, lacked constitutional backing.
The statement titled, ‘A capital ‘NO’ to
a state of emergency in Benue State’, read in part, “The social media
is agog with speculations that the Presidency will soon declare a state
of emergency in Benue State. Some of the media postings are suggestive
of the ‘power’ of the President to overthrow the governmental structures
in that state and to replace same with a Sole Administrator.
“Such speculation, though social media
blogs, cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand, in view, especially,
of the orchestrated violent demonstrations in Makurdi on Saturday by
the Hausa-Fulani, two days after the burial of the victims of the New
Year massacre.
“The power to proclaim a state of
emergency by the Presidency is provided for by Section 305 of the 1999
Constitution; and there is nothing in that provision, clear or latent,
which imbues the President, or any authority for that matter, with any
scintilla of power to remove or overthrow elected or appointed state
officials. There being no such enabling provision, therefore, such
arbitrary power cannot be implied; and if exercised, will be clearly
illegal and unlawful.”
Hon explained that Section 1(2) of the
Constitution provides in clear terms that “The Federal Republic of
Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons
take control of the government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.”
He argued, “The phrases ‘any person or
group of persons’ and ‘any part thereof’ above mean that no authority or
group of persons shall, under any guise whatsoever, take control of, in
this case, Benue State, except as provided for in the Constitution
itself.
“And of course, the only way a state
governor can be removed from office or can vacate his office is by
impeachment, death, sickness of such a magnitude as to impair him from
performing the functions of his office, or by resignation.
“A state House of Assembly also has its
constitutional lifespan, which cannot be trammeled or tempered with by
any person or authority.
“Under our constitutional jurisprudence,
therefore, both the appointer and the appointee to the office or
position of Sole Administrator of a state will be acting in flagrant
breach Section 1(2) and other relevant provisions of the Constitution.”
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