Demola Olarewaju, an aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo got away with removing several governors because democracy was still nascent, and the news cycle and analysis at the time were much slower compared to now.

Olarewaju said this while criticising President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and his appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (retd.) as the Sole Administrator of the state after suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara for six months.

According to him, Tinubu is not as brilliant as many thought, buttressing his claim with the President’s handling of the economy, saying he has sent more Nigerians into poverty than even under the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari.

“What is now glaringly even more obvious is that he is a poor student of history with the Rivers State of Emergency.

“To invite a retired military personnel to take power in Rivers State over political squabbles is such a dangerous move by Tinubu I’m still stunned by it,” he said on X.

Atiku’s aide went on to state why the kind of “dangerous move” taken by Tinubu in Rivers was successful when it was tried during the administration led by Obasanjo and his VP, Atiku.

“OBJ could do it for several reasons, mainly because he was one of the boys. Tinubu’s attempt to do the same may easily backfire.

“Twenty-two years ago, a sitting Governor, Chris Ngige, was abducted and held hostage for hours—it was Nigeria’s first democratic experiment since 1983, and social media wasn’t yet a thing; they could keep it hushed.

“What could happen under OBJ from ’99 to ’07 is impossible to replicate today,” he said.

He questioned Tinubu’s decision to invite a retired military personnel to take over Rivers State over a squabble between politicians.

“Has he never read the speech of the first coup attempt ever in Nigeria?

“Obasanjo removed several governors when he was President—tell Emperor Tinubu also to attempt it since he doesn’t understand that seasons are different.

“Baba could do all of that because democracy was still nascent, and the news cycle/analysis was very slow compared to now,” he said. (The Guardian)