President Olusegun Oba-sanjo yesterday, invoked the provision of Section 305 of the 1999 Consti-tution and declared a state of emergency in Plateau State.
The President, in a nationwide broadcast, also announ-ced that the Plateau State Governor and his Deputy, Chief Joshua Dariye and Michael Bot Mang respectively, "will go on suspension and cease to be in charge of the affairs of Plateau State for six months in the first instance. An Administrator to manage the affairs of Plateau State in the person of retired General Chris Ali is hereby nominated".
The president at different occasions also warned the governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, that the Federal Government will not tolerate further act of violence in the state. In the same vein, he urged Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Maccido, to caution Islamic adherents who staged violent reprisal attacks on innocent people.
In the emergency declaration speech in a national broadcast, the president announced the suspension of the Plateau State House of Assembly as the formal legislative body of the State with immediate effect.
Obasanjo said he hoped that the administrator will not require new laws in the administration of the state. He, however, noted that "if he does, it will be in the form of regulations which he will submit to the president for consideration by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the president for the state."
But Section 305 of the constitution invoked by Obasanjo does not provide for the suspension of the governor, his deputy or the legislative house. Also, the procedure for making law during the period of the emergency as spelt out by the president in the speech is believed to contradict the provision of Section 11 subsection 4 of the constitution.
Section 11(4) states that "at any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the state.
"Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the governor or the deputy governor of the state from office."
While stating that the declaration had been published in a Federal Government gazette yesterday, Obasanjo said: "What has become clear is that the constituted authority in Plateau State is incapable of maintaining law and order, giving confidence to the people, managing religious, ethnic and social pluralism, and protecting lives and property of all citizens or determinedly unwilling to do so. I have had several meetings with political, religious and traditional rulers of thought from Plateau."
"I have had several private consultations with political leaders and the Governor of Plateau State. The Federal Government had even set up at least three all-embracing peace committees charged with finding and using all posible ways and means to restore peace, law and order to Plateau State. The committees have been frustrated by vested interests in Plateau State that were clearly not on the side of peaceful co-existence, inclusion, tolerance and harmony.
"In my personal and official capacities, I have done everything to bring lasting peace to Plateau State. If nothing else, the political leadership in the State has failed woefully to guarantee peace and security and in many instances, it has wittingly and unwittingly encouraged acts that have subverted peace and tranquility," he said.
Obasanjo who explained that the state of Emergency in Plateau State became necessary "based on the collective desire to strengthen our democratic practice, institutions and values," enhance security and "protect the stability and corporate existence of our nation for which many have died," accused Dariye of being unavailable in the State during crises and making inflammable and unguarded statements which were undeserving of a leader.
The President stated that "the latest evidence of gross dereliction of duty, incompetence and insensitivity to the situation on ground in Plateau as well as disregard for constituted authority was, when contrary to my advice that Governors should inform me before they travel out of the country so that I can deal with their deputies when they are away as well as know where to find them at quick notice in cases of emergency, the Governor of Plateau State travelled out without notifying me. In this year alone, the Governor of Plateau State has traveled out of the country more than four times without bothering to notify me.
"When the crisis broke out in his State, the Governor made no effort to return home immediately; he was away for about two weeks. And when he did return to the country, his first priority was to attend the Sports Festival in Abuja at a time when his State was burning. It was not until Tuesday the 11th of May that, at my prompting, he informed me that he was calling a Security Committee meeting of the State.
"At the same time, I suggested to him to visit the areas of conflict and the displaced persons' camps that had flowed out of the State to the adjoining States; he was still making excuses as to why he could not do so. On Thursday the 13th of May, I took it upon myself to visit the major centres of violence - Langtang, Yelwa Shendam and Wase to see things for myself. I took the opportunity to visit displaced persons in Bauchi State. Even in my company, the Governor's car was stoned and he did not escape abuse and insults from his own people," he said.
President Obasanjo noted that from what he saw and heard at that point in time, "we need to take serious action to stem the tide of what has now become a near mutual genocide in the affected areas of Plateau State and the stream of displaced persons to the adjoining States."
He added that after series of briefings, consultations and meetings at different levels "it has become imperative that the bloodshed in Plateau State which has also reverberated in Kano and is threatening Kaduna, Bauchi, Taraba, Gombe, Benue and Nassarawa, even the Federal Capital Territory, should and must be stopped. The spill-over from Kano is already threatening Owerri and Umuahia".
Obasanjo advised that "violence brings no good to any people. It retards development, scares away investors, stultifies creativity and contaminates social relations. At this period when we are all joining hands to carry out far-reaching fundamental reforms to ensure growth, stability, development and democracy, we cannot afford or tolerate acts of violence and destruction, precipated by poor and incompetent leadership and insensitivity to the conditions of all the people".
The president in a letter to Shekarau titled "Violence in Kano" stated that given the antecedents of his state, the Kano State governor should not have given permission for the demonstration last week organised to protest the killings in Plateau State which also resulted in loss of lives and property.
He noted that despite the fact that this was made clear to the governor on the eve of the demonstration, "the result of your tactical miscalculation in the hope of stemming the tide is now clear to us all. This should never happen again."
"We cannot afford to allow miscreants and undemocratic interests to threaten any Nigerian in any part of the nation and we cannot afford to undermine the democratic enterprise that we have all worked so hard for," he said.
Obasanjo regretted that "it has become the norm for certain persons in Kano to capitalise on ethnic, religious or other disagreements in other parts of the country to initiate and execute the slaughtering of innocent persons and destruction of properties.
"It would appear that in Kano, there are permanent interest groups that have decided to undermine the state, ignore the rule of law and due process and use religion as a cover to perpetrate uncouth and clearly anti-religious actions. Hundreds of lives and property worth billions of naira have been lost in Kano to irresponsible and often manipulated violence usually under the cover of religion," he said.
The president who, however, pledged that the Federal Government was ready to work and provide all possible support to the Kano State governor, regretted that "the situation is so bad that the highly regarded ancient city of Kano that has produced some of our best leaders in Nigeria has rapidly acquired a sour reputation for intolerance, murder, violence and political rascality. This is unfortunate and any political leadership in Kano State should be seriously concerned about this."
Obasanjo stated that he hoped Shekarau got the message he was sending "clear enough", adding that he trusts that "you (Shekarau) have drawn bitter lessons from the recent experience and that you are sufficiently embarrassed to be in office while such massacres and destruction of property took place. The problem is not in stumbling or falling down. Rather, the challenge is to learn lessons and begin the process of healing so we can build our societies and nation together."
He advised Shekarau to use his position "as well as the resources available to you to make amends, reassure the people of the state, and show and be seen to be committed to a new approach to peace-building and acts of responsibility in Kano. I urge you to remember that at the end of the day, we shall all account to God Almighty on how much we did to keep his commandments and how much we did to protect His creatures on earth."
Obasanjo stated that what he "expected and still expect of you (Shekarau) is that you will use your God-given position to construct viable and transparent bridges of dialogues, accommodation, tolerance, social justice and peace."
"I expected you to understand the nuances of political action and that given the antecedents of the city as well as the situation in parts of the country, that allowing demonstrations would only provide opportunities for hoodlums and opportunists to precipitate violence," the president added.
Also, in a letter to Sultan Maccido, titled "Time to Act Against Frequent, Senseless Killings," the president urged the traditional ruler "to embark on a comprehensive enlightenment and education" of muslims, particularly in Kano, who kill innocent people and destroy property in the name of religion.
The President, who thanked the Sultan for visiting Kano to see things personally after the Plateau reprisal attacks, stated that the traditional ruler would "agree that what we have in Kano is a chronic situation whereby when there is an ethnic dispute or clash anywhere, bordering on religion directly or indirectly, muslims of any sect and at any level in other parts of Nigeria, but particularly in Kano, take it upon themselves to slaughter innocent people from other parts of the country based on their ethnicity, religion or social situations as reprisal.
"This must be seen as gravely tainting the Islamic religion and its reputation. I am appealing and requesting of your eminence, through all the means available to you and in your capacity as Sarkin Musulumi of Nigeria, to embark on a comprehensive enlightenment and education of those who indulge in this unacceptable and very irreligious practice to put an immediate stop to it," he said.
The President noted that "wanton killing of others and destruction of properties including churches and mosques by any group in Nigeria can only be an act of infidels.
"Such actions give the religion of Islam, which is a religion of peace, tolerance, social justice, hope and accommodation, a bad image and a bad reputation. It also gives the great majority who are responsible, respected, peace-loving and honourable adherents of the religion a reputation that they do not deserve.
"We have challenges before us in Nigeria: to re-grow the economy and reposition our country for stability, development and democracy. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by evidently orchestrated and senseless acts of violence and destruction.
"We, as leaders, should be perceived and seen to be in the forefront of promoting tolerance, inclusion, accommodation and social justice to the benefit of all Nigerians irrespective of faith or ethnic background. I appreciate what you and others in Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) are attempting to do in this regard," he added.