The Anambra State Government has described as politically motivated, the threat by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), that the Federal Government would declare a State of Emergency in Anambra to ensure that the November 6 governorship election in the state takes place.
The Commissioner of Information in Anambra State, Don Adinuba, made this known on Wednesday as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ current affairs programme monitored by The PUNCH.
He said the move by the Federal Government would fail.
According to the commissioner, Anambra State has not experienced the level of killings recorded in Plateau, Kaduna, Borno, Zamfara and other Northern States where rampaging bandits have murdered hundreds of innocent citizens in the last few months.
But he said despite the high killings in the North-West and North-East, elections were held in states in the areas.
The commissioner said there was nothing in the renewed violence in Anambra in the last few weeks that warrant the declaration of an emergency rule in the South-East.
A state of emergency is a situation of national danger or disaster in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures in order to regain control.
A declared state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety.
The insecurity in Anambra State worsened a few weeks ago with a declaration by a separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra that the November 6 governorship poll in the state would not hold.
On September 28, gunmen murdered Dr Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and former Minister of Information, Prof Dora Akunyili, and eight others at Nkpor in the Idemili Local Government Area of the state.
On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, expressed concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the state.
On Wednesday in the interview with the state House correspondent, Malami, said the government had the responsibility to sustain the democratic order and would do the needful to ensure that the election holds.
According to him, no possibility can be ruled out when the sanctity of democracy is threatened.
He, however, said that the option of declaring a state of emergency was still on the table and might be used if circumstances necessitated it.
He said, “No possibility is ruled out by government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our elections in Anambra hold.
“And you cannot rule out the possibility of declaration of state of emergency where it is established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of security of lives, properties and democratic order,” he said.
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However, reacting, the Anambra commissioner said Malami’s statement was politically motivated.
He said there have been a high level of violence in All Progressives Congress states –Imo and Ebonyi – in the last few months yet emergency rule was not considered by the Federal Government.
Adinuba carpeted Malami, saying, “With due respect to the senior advocate of Nigeria, I don’t want us to live in denial, what prompted the Attorney General of the Federation to make that statement today was pure politics, there is no point living in denial.
“I’ve asked very simple questions; what is the situation in Borno, Plateau, Niger? Elections were held in all these places – Adamawa, Taraba, elections were held, free and fair, declared by INEC.
“Not up to 15 persons have been killed in Anambra State since the renewed violence. So, what is so special that the Federal Government should be contemplating a State of Emergency?”
The Anambra official alleged that the government at the centre had tried to disqualify some candidates in the poll using the courts but had failed.
“It is all about politics. There is nothing that has not been done to ensure that the right candidate do not participate in the election.
“They are unable to stop us there and they are now going through the backdoor, they cannot succeed.
“There is violence in a lot of states in the South, nobody threatened emergency rule. Things are normal in Anambra State – vehicles are moving from here to all parts of Nigeria and vehicles are coming in,” Adinuba added.
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Ananaba, who spoke on the television programme on Wednesday night, said the insecurity experienced in Anambra has not degenerated into the declaration of an emergency rule.
Ananaba said, “What the State of Emergency does is to put aside the governor, the state assembly and all the institutions. It is an extraordinary measure. Anambra has not reached that point
“Section 305 has made it clear that at the actual break down of law and order, there is no actual breakdown of law and order in Anambra State – schools are in session, banks are working, markets and all. There is violence but it has not gotten to the declaration of a State of Emergency.”
The Punch
