The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has revealed that the National Assembly will decide the fate of President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency declaration in Rivers State within the next 48 hours.
Fagbemi made this known on Wednesday while addressing journalists at the State House after meeting with President Tinubu in Abuja. He urged those aggrieved by the President’s decision to seek redress through the National Assembly, expressing confidence in the legislative process.
“If the National Assembly feels what the President did was not okay, he will not have two-thirds from the National Assembly. We are expecting that within 48 hours something will come out,” Fagbemi stated.
The AGF also defended the President’s decision, describing it as a timely intervention to address the political crisis in Rivers State. He dismissed allegations that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, influenced the declaration or was involved in the demolition of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.
“I think the President has acted timeously. He has given opportunity to all the parties involved to make amends. Before then, he had assembled them, he had tried to mediate,” Fagbemi said.
Responding to claims of Wike’s involvement, the AGF questioned, “Was Wike the one that asked the State Assembly to be demolished? I don’t see the hand of the Minister of the FCT in what happened.”
The declaration of a state of emergency follows weeks of escalating tensions in Rivers State, including the demolition of the State Assembly complex and a deepening rift between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
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