Today, I watched with righteous anger as the hallowed chambers of our National Assembly—the Senate and House of Representatives—abandoned their sacred duty of safeguarding democracy and instead rubber-stamped President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unconstitutional request to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.
In an alarming show of legislative servitude, they paved the way for the illegal suspension of an elected governor, Sim Fubara, and his government for six months. If democracy is truly the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, then what played out today was nothing short of a tragic mockery of that principle.
Ordinarily, the legislature should be the watchdog of the executive, the buffer against tyranny, the people’s last line of defense against overreach. But instead of upholding these sacred responsibilities, our lawmakers have chosen to be willing tools in the hands of the executive—sacrificing national interest on the altar of political expediency and money-bag politics. It is this kind of legislative docility that the former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, consistently warned against during the 8th Senate. He understood that when the legislature becomes an appendage of the executive, democracy loses its essence.
One does not need the eyes of an eagle to see through Tinubu’s selective application of state emergency declarations. Why Rivers State? Why now? The answer is as clear as daylight: oil. Tinubu is not concerned about the people, their lives, or their democratic rights; he is concerned about protecting oil pipelines. Nothing more, nothing less. If human lives were his priority, why has he not declared a state of emergency in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Sokoto, where banditry has turned communities into mass graves? What about Benue, Nasarawa, and Plateau, where farmers-herders clashes have crippled food production? These states have been in the firm grip of terror for years, yet there has been no urgency, no state of emergency, no dramatic suspension of elected officials. The only difference between these states and Rivers is that they lack the black gold that fuels the government’s true interests.
We are in an era where governance is not about principles but about protecting economic interests. If oil flows in your state, the government will move mountains to secure it. If blood flows in your streets, the government will look away. It is a sad testament to the misplaced priorities of those at the helm of affairs.
Today’s rubber-stamp endorsement of executive impunity is another nail in the coffin of our democracy. The legislature, which should be the voice of the people, has instead become an echo chamber for the President. If history has taught us anything, it is that when democracy is hijacked by a cabal of self-serving politicians, it is only a matter of time before the people rise. And when they do, no amount of oil, power, or privilege will be enough to silence their voices.
Ismail Abdulazeez Mantu
A Journalist Who Writes from Katsina