By Titilope Adako
Nigeria – Governors elected under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have filed a suit at the Supreme Court, challenging the six-month suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the state’s House of Assembly members.
KoikiaMedia reports that President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, suspending Fubara and other elected officials while appointing a sole administrator to govern the state.
The National Assembly backed the president’s decision.
However, the governors of Bauchi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Enugu, Osun, Plateau, and Zamfara, through their Attorneys-General, questioned Tinubu’s authority to take such action.
The suit lists Tinubu and the National Assembly as respondents, with the governors urging the Supreme Court to declare that “the President has no powers whatsoever or authority to suspend a democratically elected governor and deputy governor of a state in the Federation of Nigeria under the guise of or pursuant to the proclamation of a state of emergency in any state of the federation, including the states represented by the plaintiffs,” based on the provisions of Sections 1(2), 5(2), and 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The governors also urged the apex court to declare that “the President has no powers to suspend a democratically elected House of Assembly of a state pursuant to Sections 192 (4) (6) and 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
The appellants (seven state governors) sought a declaration that “the suspension of Governor Siminalaye Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly was unconstitutional, unlawful, and in gross violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
They argued that Tinubu lacks the statutory powers to suspend a serving governor and appoint a sole administrator in their stead.
They also challenged the constitutionality of the voice votes used by the National Assembly to ratify Tinubu’s actions, arguing that “the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by the defendants did not comply with the constitutional requirements set out in Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).”
The governors prayed the Supreme Court for the following relief:
“An order nullifying the proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers State made by the first defendant and wrongfully approved by the second defendant.
“An order restraining the defendant, by himself, his servants, agents, and privies, from implementing the unlawful suspension of the governor and deputy governor of Rivers State.
“An order restraining the defendant, by himself, his servants, agents, and privies, from interfering in any manner whatsoever with the execution by the governor and deputy governor of Rivers State of their constitutional and statutory duties, as well as their electoral mandate.”
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