Adebayo Adenrele
Members of the Rivers State Caucus at the National Assembly has condemned the Lawmaker representing Bayelsa West Senatorial District, Senator Seriake Dickson for opposing the emergency rule declared in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu.
The Lawmakers, in a viral video said Dickson does not have the right to call on Tinubu to use his June 12 address before the National Assembly, to restore suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara to office.
They said, “As members of the River State Caucus and the National Assembly, we watched with utter dismay the utterance of senator Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa West Senatorial District in his press briefing, wherein he expressed his anger at the emergency rule in river states and chided the president of the Federal Republic for not using his June 12 address before the national assembly to restore suspended governor similarly Fubara to office.
“Let it be categorically stated that river state is not under military rule. The current administrator of the state is a retired military officer just as senator Seriake Dickson is himself a retired police corporal but a serving senator. Both of them cannot be serving personnel of the armed forces. The implication of retirement is clear.
“Once an officer retires, he becomes a civilian and any leadership role he occupies is subject to civilian laws, norms and democratic oversight. To label the current administration as military rule is therefore misleading and intellectually disingenuous. The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State was a necessary constitutional intervention aimed at preserving peace, protecting lives and restoring institutional order. The decision was not taken lightly, it was prompted by the rising tide of political instability and executive rascality within the state”.
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