The Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutional authority of the President to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country and, where necessary, suspend elected state officials to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
In a split decision of six-to-one delivered on Monday, a seven-member panel of the apex court upheld the powers of President Bola Tinubu to impose emergency rule and declined to fault the suspension of elected officials in states placed under such rule. However, the court emphasized that any suspension must be temporary and limited in duration to avoid abuse.
The ruling followed the dismissal of a suit filed by 11 states governed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, challenging President Tinubu’s actions in Rivers State. The states, through their Attorneys-General, argued that the President lacked constitutional powers to suspend a serving governor, deputy governor, and members of a State House of Assembly after declaring a state of emergency.
The plaintiffs had asked the court to interpret sections 1(2), 5(2), 192 and 305 of the 1999 Constitution, insisting that the President acted unconstitutionally by suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
But in the majority judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, the Supreme Court held that Section 305 of the Constitution empowers the President to take extraordinary measures to restore normalcy where emergency rule has been declared. The court noted that the Constitution does not expressly define the scope of such extraordinary measures, thereby granting the President discretion to act based on prevailing circumstances.
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The apex court also upheld preliminary objections raised by the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to establish a valid cause of action to invoke the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. According to the court, the states did not demonstrate the existence of a dispute between themselves and the federation that would warrant such jurisdiction.
Consequently, the suit was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
However, Justice Obande Ogbuinya dissented, holding that while the President has the power to declare a state of emergency, such authority does not extend to suspending democratically elected governors, deputy governors, or lawmakers. He maintained that emergency powers should not be used to undermine democratic mandates.
The majority decision was supported by Justices Inyang Okoro, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, Haruna Tsammani, Stephen Adah, and Habeeb Abiru.
President Tinubu had, on March 18, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending the governor, his deputy, and members of the State House of Assembly for six months. He appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Sole Administrator to oversee the affairs of the state, a move that received approval from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The PDP-controlled states subsequently approached the Supreme Court, but their case was struck out in Monday’s ruling.
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