A total of 11 governors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have approached the Supreme Court to challenge the constitutional powers of President Bola Tinubu to suspend a democratically elected structure of a state.
The suit filed by the governors also challenges the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
Although earlier media reports stated that the suit had been filed before the Supreme Court, it was actually filed before the apex court on Tuesday.
This was exclusively confirmed to The PUNCH by the Director of Information and Public Relations of the Supreme Court, Dr. Festus Akande.
President Bola Tinubu had, on March 18, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
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Following the suspension, President Tinubu appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) as the sole administrator to oversee the affairs of Rivers State during the suspension period.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly backed the President’s decision to implement the suspension.
Aggrieved by the suspension of one of its governors, 11 PDP governors approached the Supreme Court to challenge the suspension, the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State, and the appointment of the sole administrator.
The governors, in the suit marked SC/CV/329/2025, based their summons on eight legal grounds.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the governments of Adamawa, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara, and Bayelsa states.
The governors are urging the Supreme Court to determine whether the President has the constitutional authority to suspend a democratically elected structure of a state.
They also asked the court to determine whether the manner in which the President declared a state of emergency in Rivers State violated the 1999 Constitution.
Among other issues, the 11 governors, through their respective state Attorneys General, prayed the court to determine 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 whatsoever, interfere with the offices of a Governor and Deputy Governor of any of the 36 states of the Federation, and replace them with an unelected nominee as a Sole Administrator, under the guise of, or pursuant to, a proclamation of a state of emergency in any of the plaintiffs’ states?”
“Whether, upon a proper construction and interpretation of the provisions of Sections 1(2), 4(6), 11(4) & (5), 90, 105, and 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, the President can lawfully suspend the House of Assembly of any of the 36 states of the Federation, under the guise of, or pursuant to, a proclamation of a state of emergency in any such state?”
“Whether the consequent threat by the first defendant, acting on behalf of the President, to the states of the Federation, including the plaintiffs’ states—suggesting that the offices of Governor and Deputy Governor can be suspended by the President through a proclamation of a state of emergency—is not in contravention of the provisions of Sections 1(2), 4(6), 5(2), and 11(2) & (3) of the Constitution, and inconsistent with the principles of constitutional federalism?”
The respondents in the suit are expected to enter their appearance within 14 days after being served the summons, inclusive of the day of such service.
The filing of this suit ends weeks of speculation over what action the opposition governors would take following reports that they had previously considered challenging the President’s actions in court.
Before Tuesday, seven PDP governors—specifically from Bauchi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Enugu, Osun, Plateau, and Zamfara—were reported to have decided to challenge the President’s decision by filing a suit before the Supreme Court.
However, multiple sources from the Supreme Court and Ministry of Justice told The PUNCH that the federal government had yet to be served with the court papers.
When our correspondent asked a state counsel at the Ministry of Justice in Abuja last month whether the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), had been served with the PDP governors’ suit, he replied, “We haven’t seen it.”
On March 31, one week after the suit was reportedly filed, another counsel at the Federal Ministry of Justice also confirmed that the suit had not yet been served.
The official, who works with the Attorney General’s office, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
He said, “Here at the Ministry of Justice, we have yet to be served with the governors’ suit that they said they filed before the Supreme Court to challenge Fubara’s suspension. Immediately after we heard about the suit, we prepared our response.
“We have our response ready because for three days we started reading books to prepare, but we have yet to be served. We are still waiting.”
Last month, while commenting on the Rivers State crisis, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, Chairman of the South-South Governors’ Forum, was silent on whether a suit had been filed.
Instead, he emphasized the need for the Federal Government to urgently reverse the emergency rule, reinstate Governor Fubara, and set up a panel to reconcile Fubara and the state lawmakers.
