In January 2019, when former President Muhammadu Buhari took the unprecedented action of sacking the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, a huge blow was dealt to the independence of the judiciary. It was seen as a carryover from Buhari’s military background.

But Buhari was not the first military leader who became Nigeria’s president. In 1999, General Olusegun Obasanjo, after ruling Nigeria as a military dictator in the late 1970s, returned as the first president of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Even ardent supporters of Obasanjo can attest that he has an overbearing persona and hates being opposed. But Obasanjo never tampered with the independence of the judiciary or legislature. The courts were issuing judgements against him, one of which was his seizing of the Lagos State Government’s monthly allocations because the Governor of Lagos State then, who is today Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, created new local government areas. In addition, some of the elections conducted under Obasanjo’s watch were overturned by the judiciary.

Similarly, the two chambers of the legislature were independent in word and deed. Even though the ruling Peoples Democratic Party had the majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Obasanjo never got his way easily in both chambers. For example, on August 13, 2002, the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Hon. Ghali Umar Na’Abba, issued a two-week ultimatum to Obasanjo to resign or face impeachment because of 17 charges, some of which included his non-implementation of the 2002 budget as approved, disregarding the authority of the National Assembly, travelling too frequently, and failing to control insecurity in the country.

Also on May 16, 2006, the Senate voted against the bid to amend the Nigerian constitution to give Obasanjo a third term. The legislators came under intense pressure and threat, including bribery, shooting, and blackmail, but the Senate President, Ken Nnamani, ensured that the debate on the matter was televised live for Nigerians to see which senators were for or against the third-term bid.

However, since the APC came to power in 2015, there has been a clear move towards weakening the powers of the legislature and judiciary, making them do the bidding of the executive, thereby truncating the principle of separation of powers, which is a cardinal principle of democracy. Today, whatever the president wants is delivered by the National Assembly and the judiciary.

What has played out in Rivers State is an example of this. On March 19, 2025, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, as well as the state legislature for six months. In his broadcast to the nation, the President claimed the action was necessitated by the political conflicts in the state and damage to oil pipelines. Subsequently, he appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as the new administrator. Only the state judiciary was allowed to continue to operate.

Many have asked why Rivers State was singled out at a time when some parts of Nigeria were under the control of insurgents. In such states, communal and government leaders organise protection fees to be paid to outlaws so that there would be relative peace for the citizens. Yet, the President has not deemed it fit to declare a state of emergency in such states. And since the activities of these violent groups pose a threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty, many have asked why Tinubu has not declared a state of emergency in Nigeria and appointed a retired general to take over the presidency for six months.

Tinubu’s action in Rivers State elicited condemnation as it was seen as a ploy to water the ground for the political takeover of the state ahead of the 2027 election, given that the state has been a PDP stronghold since 1999 and one of the richest and most populated states of Nigeria. The Nigerian Bar Association, through its president, Maazi Afam Osigwe, called it illegal, noting that a state of emergency should not remove elected officials. Many pointed out that the conditions described in the constitution were not in existence in Rivers State to warrant the declaration of a state of emergency. In addition, the Supreme Court ruled that the President does not have the power to suspend elected officials of any level of government.

Even though Obasanjo had done it in some states, the Supreme Court eventually ruled against the removal of elected officials. As President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan followed the decision of the court on May 15, 2013, when he declared a state of emergency in the three North-East states of Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe because of the violent activities of the Boko Haram group. Jonathan did not remove the governors or legislators.


https://punchng.com/how-apc-is-endangering-nigerias-democracy/