Following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, 11 governors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have approached the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional powers of President Bola Tinubu to suspend a democratically elected state government.
The filing of the suit was confirmed by the Director of Information and Public Relations of the Supreme Court, Dr. Festus Akande.
The governors, in the suit marked SC/CV/329/2025, based their summons on eight legal grounds.
The plaintiffs are the governments of Adamawa, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara, and Bayelsa states.
In the suit, the governors asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the President has the constitutional authority to suspend a democratically elected structure in any state.
According to PUNCH, they also asked the apex court to rule on whether the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State was in contravention of the 1999 Constitution.
Among their prayers to the court was the following:
“Whether upon a proper construction and interpretation of the provisions of Sections 1(2), 5(2), 176, 180, 188, and 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can lawfully suspend or in any manner interfere with the offices of a Governor and Deputy Governor of any of the 36 component states of the Federation, and replace them with his own unelected nominee as a Sole Administrator under the guise of, or pursuant to, a Proclamation of a State of Emergency.”
They further asked: “Whether the threat by the first defendant, acting on behalf of the President, to suspend the offices of Governors and Deputy Governors in the States of the Federation—including the plaintiffs’ states—by virtue of a Proclamation of a State of Emergency, is not in contravention of Sections 1(2), 4(6), 5(2), 11(2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution, and inconsistent with the principles of constitutional federalism.”
It will be recalled that in March, President Tinubu suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, citing instability in the state.
However, the decision has sparked widespread criticism.
Tinubu had claimed that the ongoing crisis had paralysed governance in Rivers State.
