Rivers State Emergency Rule: Tinubu, Akpabio, Others Dragged To Court

Electorates in Rivers State have taken legal action against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the removal of the state’s elected Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor, and all members of the State House of Assembly.

The suit, marked FHC/CS/550/2025, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on March 20, 2025. The President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, and the Attorney General of the Federation are listed as 2nd to 5th defendants in the case.

The suit was filed on behalf of the electorate by lawyer Daniel Wariboko, the sole plaintiff, suing on behalf of himself and other registered voters in Rivers State. The suit was initiated through an Originating Summons.

Wariboko is seeking a court determination on several issues, including whether a dispute between a governor and a state House of Assembly can justify the declaration of a state of emergency under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Other issues the plaintiff seeks to have addressed include:

• Whether the President has the power to suspend a democratically elected executive and legislative arm of a state.
• Whether the President can appoint a sole administrator to run the affairs of a state when an elected governor, deputy governor, and legislative members are in place.
• Whether the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, is unconstitutional, null, and void.
• Whether the suspension of the democratically elected government in Rivers State violates the citizens’ rights to participate in governance as stipulated in Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
• Whether the Senate, House of Representatives, and Attorney General have the power to ratify the suspension of the executive and legislative arms of government in Rivers State.

Should the court find in favor of the plaintiff, Wariboko seeks several declarations, including:

• That the suspension of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and Legislators of Rivers State on March 18, 2025, is unconstitutional, null, and void.
• That the suspension of the democratically elected government breaches Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Section 5(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
• That the appointment of a Sole Administrator for Rivers State by the President is unconstitutional, null, and void.
• That the National Assembly does not have the power to ratify the suspension.
• An injunction restraining the National Assembly from ratifying the declaration of the state of emergency.
• Orders to restore democracy in Rivers State by reinstating the executive and legislative arms of government as sworn in on May 29, 2023, and June 10, 2023, respectively.
• A perpetual injunction preventing future suspension of democratically elected governors or legislators in Rivers State or any other state.

The suit, filed through Wariboko’s lawyer, Fidel Bassey of Transafrican Legal Practice, is supported by a 29-paragraph affidavit. Wariboko argues that it is in the interest of justice for the court to intervene and restore democracy in Rivers State.