The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has vehemently condemned what it described as an unconstitutional, brazen, and coordinated attempt to undermine democracy in Rivers State, following the presentation of the state’s 2025 budget by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the National Assembly for approval.

In a strongly worded statement on Thursday, HURIWA declared that President Tinubu’s action represents “a creeping dictatorship,” a mini coup, and a dangerous descent into authoritarianism under the guise of emergency rule. The group also indicted the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the leadership of the National Assembly as conspirators in this “anti-democratic script,” calling the development a blatant affront to the 1999 Constitution and a red flag for Nigeria’s democracy.

According to HURIWA, the transmission of a sub-national budget by the President to the National Assembly — citing an emergency rule that has not been duly and lawfully declared with the involvement of democratic institutions — amounts to an illegal takeover of governance structures in Rivers State.

“The President’s action is not only unconstitutional but also a shameful desecration of Nigeria’s federal system,” HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated. “What exactly is President Tinubu telling the world? That a sitting president can arbitrarily suspend democratic governance in a federating unit and rule by decree through his cronies in the legislature and judiciary? What genre of democracy is this?”

HURIWA reminded Nigerians that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides a strict and limited framework for the declaration of a state of emergency, including legislative oversight, robust judicial review, and temporal limitations. Yet, in the case of Rivers State, none of these constitutional prerequisites have been transparently followed.

“There is no valid emergency rule in Rivers State. The purported gazette referred to by the President has no legal or constitutional foundation. The Supreme Court, which ought to have determined the legality of any emergency proclamation, has become complicit in silence, while the National Assembly has morphed into an enabling rubber stamp,” HURIWA said.

The rights group expressed deep concern that the 2025 Rivers State Appropriation Bill totalling ?1.481 trillion — with allocations to infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture — is being smuggled through the backdoor without any input from a constitutionally recognized State House of Assembly.

“This unconstitutional act, if allowed to stand, will set a chilling precedent where a president can arbitrarily suspend governance in any state, hijack its executive and legislative functions, and govern by fiat,” HURIWA warned. “What happened in Rivers State is a dress rehearsal for tyranny.”

HURIWA emphasized that the principle of federalism, which Nigeria purports to uphold, is based on the autonomy of states to manage their affairs within the ambit of the Constitution. By bypassing the Rivers State House of Assembly, Tinubu has effectively collapsed the doctrine of separation of powers and dismantled democratic governance at the subnational level.

“This is a red flag. A dangerous and dark cloud is hovering over Nigeria’s democratic horizon. The Executive, the Judiciary, and the Legislature have colluded in what can only be described as a sinister conspiracy to enthrone absolutism,” HURIWA stated.

The group called on well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organisations, the international community, and the media to rise and speak against this creeping authoritarianism.

“This move must not be normalized. The National Assembly must immediately reject this illegal usurpation of power, and the Supreme Court must urgently discharge its constitutional duty by ruling decisively on the so-called emergency rule in Rivers State. History will not be kind to those who stood by while democracy was strangled,” HURIWA warned.

HURIWA also demanded that the National Assembly cease all deliberations on the said budget until democratic institutions in Rivers State are restored.

“If the Federal Government has genuine concerns about governance in Rivers, the Constitution provides democratic solutions — not autocratic impositions. This budget presentation is unconstitutionality taken too far, and it must be overturned without delay,” the group insisted.

In concluding its statement, HURIWA decried the growing pattern of executive overreach and judicial complicity in Nigeria’s democratic process, noting that what is at stake in Rivers State is not just a budget, but the very soul of democracy.

“If Rivers falls, no state is safe,” HURIWA concluded. “Today it is Rivers, tomorrow it may be any other state. Nigerians must wake up and resist this silent coup against democracy.”