GEJ Shows Emergency Is Not Military Rule

[Shola Sholaz]

Citing Section 305 of the  Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan, last night declared a state of emergency in three key flashpoint states of Northeastern Nigeria wracked by activities of the Boko Haram and Ansaru terrorist insurgents – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States.
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The measure came shortly after the Presidency had denied plans to declare emergency which sections of the parties in opposition had vehemently opposed because of fears that some of the states under the Boko Haram siege, being under the opposition All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP) such as Borno and Yobe, might be politically undermined to the advantage of the ruling People's Democratic Party.
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States of emergency in the history of Nigeria, both during the First Republic when it was declared in the defunct Western Region, and during the years of the President Olusegun Obasanjo rule always involved the removal of elected political functionaries.