{"id":7784,"date":"2025-05-12T07:30:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T07:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/?p=7784"},"modified":"2025-05-12T07:30:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T07:30:37","slug":"tinubu-urges-supreme-court-to-dismiss-pdp-governors-suit-over-rivers-state-emergency-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/12\/tinubu-urges-supreme-court-to-dismiss-pdp-governors-suit-over-rivers-state-emergency-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinubu Urges Supreme Court to Dismiss PDP Governors\u2019 Suit Over Rivers State Emergency Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abuja, Nigeria<\/strong> \u2013 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging his declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State and the suspension of all its elected officials.<\/p>\n

On March 18, 2025, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, removing Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire state legislature. He immediately appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Sole Administrator of the state.<\/p>\n

PDP Governors Challenge Presidential Action<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Initially filed by seven states and later expanded to 11, the suit contests the legality of Tinubu\u2019s actions. However, political dynamics have since shifted, with one plaintiff\u2014Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori\u2014defecting to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom has also publicly backed Tinubu\u2019s second term bid and is rumored to be considering defection.<\/p>\n

The suit was filed through the respective attorneys-general of the states, naming the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), as the first defendant, and the National Assembly as the second.<\/p>\n

Presidency Files Preliminary Objection<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In a preliminary objection submitted on May 9, Fagbemi challenged the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to hear the case, arguing that it falls outside the court\u2019s original jurisdiction under Section 232(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, which applies only to disputes between the federation and states, or between states.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe plaintiffs disclosed no legal dispute with the federation nor any justiciable cause of action,\u201d Fagbemi stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He described the lawsuit as speculative and politically motivated, asserting that the states lacked the legal standing to file the suit and accusing them of abusing court process.<\/p>\n

National Security Justified Emergency Declaration \u2013 Presidency<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In an affidavit filed by Taiye Hussain Oloyede, Special Assistant to the President on Arbitration, Drafting, and Regulations, the presidency defended the emergency rule by citing internal conflict in the Rivers government and attacks on oil infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe political crisis and sabotage of oil facilities justified the president\u2019s decision to declare emergency rule,\u201d Oloyede said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He also defended the National Assembly\u2019s voice vote approval of the declaration, arguing it met constitutional standards.<\/p>\n

Oloyede further claimed the PDP governors filed the suit out of fear that similar actions could be taken against their own states in the future.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis suit was filed not to correct a wrong but to politically harass and scandalise the president,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Supreme Court has not yet scheduled a hearing for the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abuja, Nigeria \u2013 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by governors from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging his declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State and the suspension of all its elected officials. On March 18, 2025, Tinubu declared a state of emergency in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"President Tinubu urges Supreme Court to dismiss PDP governors\u2019 suit challenging Rivers emergency declaration as politically motivated.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7784"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7784"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7787,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7784\/revisions\/7787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}