Residents of Rivers State and indeed some other Nigerians were disappointed on Thursday as President Bola Tinubu conspicuously omitted issues of the state of emergency imposed on the state during his Democracy Day address on Thursday.
It is now three months since democratic rule was suspended in Rivers following the protracted crisis between the suspended governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara and his estranged political godfather, Nyesom Wike.
There were speculations that President Tinubu will lift the state of emergency in line with the Democracy Day celebration.
Ijaw youths council was one of the groups that had urged Mr President to lift the emergency rule in the spirit of the celebration.
The hope was heightened when Fubara visited the president during his Sallah holiday in Lagos.
However, as Mr President read his message before a joint session of the National Assembly, hopes dashed for Fubara and his supporters.
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), in a statement released Thursday evening, urged the President to act without delay to restore democratic governance in Rivers.
National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, also urged the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio to intervene in restoring democratic governance in the state.
According to him, the prolonged political crisis in the state has created an environment of instability and uncertainty that directly impacts the well-being of everyday citizens.
“PANDEF notes that most troubling is the glaring contradiction between the noble ideals and enduring legacy of June 12, as symbolized by the sacrifices of past and surviving heroes and the reality of what can only be described as creeping authoritarianism in Rivers State.
“While the nation rightly unites with the President to celebrate Democracy Day, a deeply paradoxical and troubling situation continues to unfold in the strategically important state of Rivers.
“The people of Rivers State and the wider Niger Delta are being subjected to the erosion of democratic institutions and principles of good governance. This portends grave implications for our collective democratic achievements as a country.
“PANDEF therefore calls upon the relevant authorities, most especially, President Bola Tinubu, as the father of the nation, and the National Assembly, led by our son, Senator Godswill Akpabio to act without delay to restore democratic governance in Rivers State.
“The prolonged political crisis in the state has created an environment of instability and uncertainty that directly impacts the well-being of everyday citizens,” PANDEF stated.
The organisation is not alone on this as former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson also expressed his anger that Mr President was silent on Rivers matter.
The Senator also condemned the letter read on the floor of the Senate seeking confirmation of members of the Rivers State Electoral Commission.
He saw it as an aberration in a day Nigeria set aside to celebrate democracy, stressing that President Tinubu missed a golden opportunity.
Senator Dickson voiced out his frustration thus:
“You have a military administration in the midst of a democracy that we are celebrating today, of all days, why did the the President and the Senate President choose today, being democracy day in Nigeria to read those undemocratic and unconstitutional and illegal communications to the National Assembly.
“I will not even bother to take constructive objections and concerns. Well, that tells you how the APC has reduced Nigerian democracy to.
“I take very strong objections to that. And listening to the President's very flowery, otherwise impressive speech, let me say this, it is a good thing to alter, make beautiful declarations of principles and show democratic commitment.
“Words don't show democratic commitment. What matters is actions, actions and actions. But you cannot be celebrating democracy, you cannot be flouting yourself as a democrat on the one hand and on the other hand, be trampling democracy under your big presidential foot in Rivers State.
“The president missed a golden opportunity to raise and deepen democracy in Nigeria by restoring democratic and normal civil constitutional rule in Rivers State.
“Of all the things the president said, the president was silent about Rivers State.”