Court Summons President Tinubu, Akpabio, AGF, Others Over Emergency Rule In Rivers State

The others named in the suit include the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; the National Assembly; and the Attorney General of the Federation.

Also joined in the suit are the Rivers Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, the Revenue and Fiscal Mobilization Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

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

The plaintiffs are challenging the legality of the emergency declaration and seeking the court’s interpretation of its constitutionality.

Among the key questions raised is whether President Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, is “unconstitutional, null, and void.”

The plaintiffs argue that the move constitutes “a breach of Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act) and Section 305(3)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”

They are also seeking a court order restraining the Rivers State Administrator from appointing caretaker committees for the 23 local government councils, forming a state executive council, awarding contracts, or making any financial transactions from the state treasury.

Additionally, the plaintiffs are demanding the “restoration of democracy in Rivers State” by reinstating the suspended Executive and Legislative arms of government.

Furthermore, they are asking the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the President from further suspending democratically elected officials in the state.

The court has given the defendants 30 days to respond to the summons. It warned that failure to respond could result in the case proceeding in their absence.

The legal action was filed by Ebere R. Ugwuja, ESQ, on behalf of the plaintiffs.