The USA Chapter of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) has called on the Military Administrator of Rivers State to resign and the people of the state to reject him immediately, arguing that while Nigeria operates as a federation, Rivers State is a sovereign entity within it.

NADECO, who made the call in a statement dated March 26, 2025, issued by its President/CEO, Lloyd F. Ukwu, Esquire, which was marked ?NADECO?s Call to the Illegal Administrator, Resign Now! And to Rivers People: Stand Firm and Soundly Reject the Administrator Immediately.?

It did not, however, name the Administrator it called to resign but stated that Tinubu, ?as President, lacks the constitutional authority to unilaterally suspend an elected governor like Fubara and that Rivers State is not a subordinate institution, neither is it a High School, and Tinubu is not its overseer and not the Principal of a High School who can suspend a student willy-nilly.?

It added, for clarity, that ?Tinubu?s own presidency remains under a cloud of illegitimacy, having been declared the winner by INEC despite widespread irregularities and disputes over the election?s credibility.?

It described as absurd and unjust for a president whose mandate is contested to attempt the removal of a legally and duly elected governor, stressing that it is a glaring irony that a leader accused of electoral fraud is seeking to undermine democratic governance in Rivers State.

NADECO said that in a democracy, while sovereignty belongs to the people and resides with the citizens, it is not with an unelected administrator or an aspiring autocrat or a want-to-be civilian dictator in Abuja.

NADECO, which held that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed and that leaders are entrusted with the power to serve the people, not to rule over them by imposing an administrator, maintained that the people of Rivers State exercised their democratic right in 2023 by electing Siminalayi Fubara as their governor.

He said, ?They did not choose an imposed administrator; hence, NADECO demands the immediate resignation of this illegitimate appointee as true democracy requires that governance be rooted in the people?s will, expressed through free and fair elections.?

According to NADECO, the current administrator is an imposter and usurper, lacking any mandate from the people; hence, we call on Rivers people to unequivocally reject him.

NADECO consequently queried: ?Who does this Administrator serve and represent? He is accountable not to Rivers people but to Tinubu, Akpabio, Kereke Ekun, and Wike, as his allegiance lies with these political actors, not with the citizens he claims to govern.?

Noting that the principle of ?Power to the People? is enshrined in Nigeria?s constitution and international human rights instruments, including the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, NADECO insisted that Rivers people must uphold this principle and completely and resolutely reject this illegal administrator, forcing his resignation, asserting that anything less is unacceptable.

As a final appeal for peaceful resistance and rejection of the illegal administrator, NADECO urges the people of Rivers State to remain peaceful and law-abiding in their lawful pursuit of their constitutionally protected right to protest in the face of injustice, adding, however, that ?history reminds us that when a government tramples on the rights of the people and renders judicial redress impossible, as is the case now in Nigeria, the people retain the inherent right to resist oppression.? (The Guardian)

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