Why Prof. Akinyemi’s Proposal Threatens Nigeria’s Constitutional Order and Democratic Stability: By Doyen Belitei Ejuwa

Why Prof. Akinyemi’s Proposal Threatens Nigeria’s Constitutional Order and Democratic Stability

By Doyen Belitei Ejuwa, Abuja.

Published By NigerDelta Voice Reporters,

Ondo State Correspondent.

27th November, 2025

The recent comments attributed to Professor A. Bolaji Akinyemi calling for the suspension of governors’ immunity, the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency, mass recall of retired military personnel, and the imposition of temporary military rule in states has no constitutional back up and it's has generated intense public debate on social media. While the urgency of Nigeria’s security crisis cannot be denied, proposals that undermine constitutional democracy must be examined critically and resisted firmly.

National security is important but constitutional stability is indispensable. A nation cannot defend itself effectively by dismantling the very legal and institutional foundations that ensure accountability, liberty, and predictable governance.

*Director & CEO, News Express Online 24/7, Breaking News Online, Donmaxy Daily Legal Nuggets and Anti Domestic Violence Against Women Crusader, a social media analyst, Doyen Belitei Ejuwa also former Attorney-General of LAWSAN MCIU, Ughelli Delta State* sets out the constitutional facts, historical context, and security realities that demonstrate why Prof. Akinyemi’s recommendations are fundamentally flawed.

*Presidential Suspension of Governors’ Immunity Is Unconstitutional*.

The call to suspend the immunity of state Governors through presidential action is simply not possible under Nigerian law. Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution as (Amended) grants immunity to the President, Vice President, Governors, and Deputy Governors. This protection is absolute while they are in office.

*NOTE* Immunity cannot be removed by executive order. It can only be altered through a constitutional amendment, which must pass both chambers of the National Assembly and receive the approval of at least 24 out of the 36 state Houses of Assembly.

*No Nigerian President has the constitutional power to set aside Section 308 not even during a state of emergency*.

A Nationwide State of Emergency Cannot Be Used to Remove Governors. 

Under Section 305, a state of emergency can only be declared under specific conditions such as war, natural disaster, or total breakdown of public order. Even then, the declaration absolutely requires National Assembly approval.

Remember, history shows that even when states like Plateau (2004), Ekiti (2013), or the North East (2013) were placed under emergency rule, the democratic structures were preserved.

To use emergency powers as a tool to remove Governors or impose military rule would amount to an unconstitutional takeover of subnational governments, a direct violation of Section 1(2) of the Constitution.

*Military Administration in States Violates Nigeria’s Fundamental Law*.

Nigeria’s Constitution is explicit:

> No person or group may take control of any part of government except as provided by the Constitution (Section 1(2)).

By replacing Governors with military administrators is legally equivalent to a coup at the subnational level. Such an action:

Violates constitutional supremacy, dismantles democratic governance, sets a dangerous precedent for authoritarian drift, security cannot be built on illegality.

*Suspending Retirement Rules of the Armed Forces Act Is Not a Presidential Power*.

The Armed Forces Act’s retirement requirements for age and length of service are statutory provisions, not administrative guidelines. Changing or suspending them requires an Act of the National Assembly, not unilateral presidential action.

Note, historical references to exceptions during World War II and the Nigerian Civil War do not apply here. Those were wartime conditions backed by emergency legislation. Nigeria today is not under a constitutional war declaration.

*Mass Recall of Recently Retired Soldiers Is Strategically Unsound*

While Nigeria indeed needs more manpower for internal security operations, a blanket recall of all recently retired soldiers is neither practical nor strategic. Many retirees leave due to age, medical conditions, or psychological fatigue.

Modern warfare increasingly prioritizes, intelligence gathering, rone technology, special forces, cyber defence, surveillance systems, blindly swelling the ranks without modern capability simply reproduces old failures.

*Recruitment Without Infrastructure Creates Weak Forces*

A massive recruitment drive sounds appealing, but Nigeria’s training facilities, logistics systems, and troop housing are already overstretched. Without strengthening these, flooding the military with thousands of new recruits produces poorly trained, poorly equipped, and poorly supervised personnel a recipe for further insecurity.

Effective military expansion requires strategic investment, not reactionary numbers.

Special Terrorism Tribunals Already Exist

Contrary to the impression that Nigeria lacks mechanisms to prosecute terrorists decisively, the government already operates:

Special Terrorism Courts under the Federal High Court

Military tribunals for battlefield offences! 

The Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, which provides for the death penalty in extreme cases. 

There is no legal vacuum requiring emergency tribunals or extra-constitutional measures.

Nigeria’s Security Failures Are Operational, Not Constitutional

At the heart of Nigeria’s insecurity challenges are:

1.Poor intelligence coordination. 

2.Weak policing capacity. 

3.Underfunded security agencies. 

4.Porous borders

5.Corruption in procurement. 

6.Lack of state police. 

7.Insufficient local community engagement

These are operational shortcomings not constitutional barriers.

*Conclusively* , Nigeria Needs Security Reform, Not Constitutional Breakdown. Nigeria absolutely requires decisive action to address terrorism, banditry, and widespread insecurity. However, the solutions must remain within the framework of the law. Nations that abandon their constitutions in moments of crisis do not become safer they become unstable and authoritarian.

What Nigeria needs is:

Improved intelligence operations

Modernized military capability. 

Police reforms and possible decentralization. 

Stronger oversight of security spending. 

Community-based security partnerships! 

Political accountability at all levels, 

Democracy is not the enemy.

The path forward must strengthen Nigeria’s institutions not dismantle them.

 *Thanks for your time* .