Prominent Nigerian activist Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to stop the planned Rivers State Local Government Area (LGA) elections, accusing the federal government and the National Assembly of treating the state like a “guinea pig” for unconstitutional experiments.
In an open letter to the President dated August 13, 2025 — obtained by SaharaReporters — Dr. Jaja urged Tinubu to uphold Section 140 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and revert to the “status quo ante” by reinstating Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly.
He accused both the Presidency and the legislature of attempting to “capture” Rivers State for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) through political engineering.
“Since March 18, 2025, your good self and the National Assembly have transformed yourselves into ‘constitutional scientists,’” Jaja wrote. “Rivers State… is like a genetically modified organism — a complete deviant from what the Nigerian Constitution stipulates.”
The activist said Rivers is the only state in Nigeria currently run by a sole administrator at both the state and LGA levels — a system, he stressed, not provided for in the Constitution. He warned that the upcoming LGA elections would further entrench this “GMO” political experiment.
Dr. Jaja also invoked the 2001 ECOWAS Treaty, which prohibits the governance of member states or sub-national entities by unelected officials, warning that the President’s actions could face scrutiny from the ECOWAS Court of Justice.
“This GMO Rivers State… comes with a lot of negative side effects with the passage of time,” he cautioned. “It is not too late to revert to the status quo ante.”
The activist ended his letter by reminding President Tinubu of his oath of office and urging him to follow the constitutional amendment process under Section 9 if he seeks to alter Nigeria’s governance framework.
