Rivers Emergency Rule: Court Summons Tinubu, Akpabio, CBN, Others

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued a summons to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and seven other parties over the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

The suit, filed under Suit No: FHC/PH/CS/45/2025, was brought by the Incorporated Trustees of Peoples Life Improvement Foundation, alongside Precious Elekima and Inanna Wright Harry.

The plaintiffs are challenging the legality of the emergency proclamation made by the President on March 18, 2025.

Others listed as defendants in the suit include the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation, Rivers State Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In the originating summons, the plaintiffs raised several constitutional questions, including whether the President’s declaration of a state of emergency in the state was valid under Nigerian law. They argued that the action violates Section 305(3)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act).

They are also asking the court to:

• Restrain the state Sole Administrator from appointing caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas;
• Stop any appointments of commissioners or awarding of contracts;
• Bar the administrator from spending from the state treasury;
• Reinstate the suspended executive and legislative arms of the Rivers State Government;
• And grant a perpetual injunction restraining the President from further suspending any democratically elected officials in the state.

The court has given the defendants 30 days to file their responses. It warned that failure to do so may result in the court proceeding with the case in their absence.