The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, describing it as “unconstitutional and reckless.”

Obi stated on his X handle that; it is a degrading back door imposition of martial rule on a strategic part of the federation with all the implied negatives.

Obi claimed that the political situation in Rivers does not justify the emergency rule and the suspension of Governor Siminlayi Fubara, his deputy and state lawmakers, adding that the action is also a biased interpretation of section 305(1) of the 1999 constitution.

Obi said, having already been grappling with non-adherence to electoral qualifications, rules, and massive rigging, adding arbitrary removal of elected officials will push us to a state of nature and anarchy.

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, therefore, appealed to the National Assembly and all stakeholders not to allow the emergence rule to stand, saying that the action will deepens the culture of impunity and threatens democracy.

PUNCH