Epelle: Tinubu Made History Eroding Rule Of Law

BY PATRICK WEMAMBU (With Agency Report)

Jake Epelle, The Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, formerly known as The Albino Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting disability inclusion in various aspects of life – has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s submission of the 2025 Rivers State Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly. He described Mr. President’s action as making history by eroding the rule of law.

Said he: “This is the first time in Nigeria’s democratic history that a sitting President is presenting the budget of a state. The President has made history, but unfortunately, this time, on the wrong side of history.”

Epelle who made the remarks speaking on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief on Friday,’ condemned the President’s action as unconstitutional and a dangerous precedent for Nigeria’s democracy.

Interrogating the action of allowing unelected individuals or the federal government to control state-level budgeting, the founder of the albino foundation regretted that Tinubu’s presentation of Rivers State budget to NASS erodes the rule of law without constitutional backing.

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The prominent human rights advocate further argued that the action undermines the foundation of democratic governance and blurs the constitutional lines between federal and state authority.

He disclosed that initial plans were to delegate the budget presentation to a “sole administrator” — a non-elected official — until public scrutiny forced a shift in approach. “We called attention to the illegality of having a non-elected individual manage an elected office,” he explained.

The Sunday Times recalls that President Tinubu had on Thursday, May 22, 2025, submitted the ₦1.481 trillion budget to the National Assembly. The move came amid ongoing political turmoil in Rivers State, which led to the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the state House of Assembly under an emergency rule declared by the President.

In a formal communication to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu requested expedited legislative consideration of the bill, stating that the proposed budget prioritises infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture, with projections to create at least 6,000 jobs in the state.

The Senate has since referred the bill to its Ad-Hoc Committee on Emergency Rule for review. A similar request was submitted to the House of Representatives. The President cited the Supreme Court’s nullification of the previously submitted 2025 budget by Governor Fubara as justification for his intervention.