‘You Can Not Release Funds To Sole Administrator, Nobody Can Suspend A Governor’ – Retired Judge Queries Tinubu

A former President of the Delta State Customary Court, Justice Miakpor Emiaso (retd.), has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s decision to release Rivers State’s allocation to the Sole Administrator, describing it as a grave error and unconstitutional.

Emiaso, in an interview with Vanguard, strongly condemned the president’s action, emphasizing that it was a violation of constitutional principles.

He argued, “It is unlawful, it is unconstitutional, you cannot release funds to a sole administrator, and I mean it is very wrong.”

The retired judge pointed out that the constitution does not provide for the appointment of a sole administrator to govern a state, calling it “very wrong.”

He explained that anything carried out by such an administrator would be considered “ultra vires,” meaning beyond their legal powers, rendering their actions null and void.

“The constitution does not conceive of a situation where you even appoint a sole administrator to run a state. Appointing a sole administrator is unconstitutional; anything the sole administrator does there is ultra vires, null, and void because there is no arrangement under the constitution for the appointment of a sole administrator to administer a state,” Emiaso remarked.

Naija News reports that Emiaso also took issue with the president’s decision to suspend Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, warning that such an act poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s democracy.

He stated that it sets a dangerous precedent where the president could arbitrarily suspend any governor across the country, undermining the nation’s democratic system.

He said, “There is no arrangement in the constitution that permits any authority in this country to suspend an elected officer, least of all a governor, so the president suspending the governor of Rivers State is a very major threat to our democratic system.”

The former judge cited numerous court decisions asserting that no one, not even the president, has the authority to suspend an elected governor or members of a state legislature.

He stressed that there is a defined constitutional process for removing elected officials, which does not include suspension.

“There are so many decisions of our courts to that effect that nobody can suspend the governor. Nobody can suspend even members of the House of Assembly if they are elected. There is a process for removing them, and it is not by suspension,” Emiaso concluded.