The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed the constitutional authority of the President to declare a state of emergency in any state of the federation to prevent a breakdown of law and order or a slide into chaos and anarchy.
In a split decision of six justices to one, the apex court upheld the President’s powers under the Constitution to proclaim a state of emergency and to take extraordinary measures aimed at restoring normalcy.
The court further ruled that during a validly declared state of emergency, the President may suspend elected state officials, provided such suspension is for a limited period.
Delivering the lead majority judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris held that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the President to take exceptional steps once a state of emergency has been declared.
Justice Idris noted that the constitutional provision does not expressly define the scope of the “extraordinary measures” available to the President, thereby conferring discretion on the President to determine the appropriate actions required to stabilise the affected state.
The judgment arose from a suit filed by states governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which challenged the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during which elected state officials were suspended for six months. The Supreme Court had reserved judgment in the matter in October.
The plaintiffs in the suit were the Attorneys-General of PDP-controlled states, while the defendants were the Federal Government of Nigeria and the National Assembly.
The states that instituted the action were Adamawa, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara, and Bayelsa.
Marked SC/CV/329/2025, the suit was predicated on eight grounds. The plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the President possesses the constitutional authority to suspend a democratically elected government in a state and whether the procedure adopted in proclaiming a state of emergency in Rivers State contravened the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiffs urged the court to determine “whether, upon a proper construction and interpretation 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 the Deputy Governor of any of the 36 component States of the Federation and replace them with his 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.”
They also sought a determination on “whether, upon a proper construction and interpretation of Sections 1(2), 4(6), 11(4) & (5), 90, 105, and 305 of the Constitution, the President can lawfully suspend the House of Assembly of any of the 36 States under the guise of, or pursuant to, a Proclamation of a State of Emergency in such States.”
Earlier in the judgment, Justice Idris upheld the preliminary objections raised by the defendants—the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly—challenging the competence of the suit.
He held that the plaintiffs failed to establish a cause of action capable of invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
In the six-to-one majority decision, the apex court agreed that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate the existence of an actionable dispute between them and the Federation that would warrant the exercise of the court’s original jurisdiction.
Consequently, Justice Idris struck out the suit for want of jurisdiction. He, however, proceeded to consider the substantive issues raised and dismissed the case on the merits.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Obande Ogbuinya held that the suit succeeded in part.
While agreeing that the President has the constitutional power to declare a state of emergency, Justice Ogbuinya ruled that such power does not extend to suspending elected state officials, including governors, deputy governors, and members of state Houses of Assembly.
