The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Supreme Court of creating a “constitutional tyrant” in the President by affirming his power to suspend elected governors and state assemblies during a state of emergency.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party warned that the ruling, though academic in nature, sets a dangerous precedent and concentrates excessive power in the Presidency in a manner that undermines not only Nigeria’s federal system, but democracy itself.
The ADC stated that it considers the judgment an extremely dangerous threat to Nigeria’s federalism and democracy.
It warned that constitutional tyranny does not always arrive through military coups, adding that they often advances gradually, as rulers steadily erode democratic norms and institutions.
The full statement read: “The African Democratic Congress (ADC) is alarmed by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which grants the President the power to suspend elected governors and state assemblies during a state of emergency. Although the ruling appears innocuously academic, it represents a potential inflection point in our democratic development, one that may alter the nature of our democracy forever.
“According to the Supreme Court judgment, the President has the “discretion to determine the measures required to restore peace and security” after declaring a state of emergency in any state. In essence, the President may take any “extraordinary measures” if, in his opinion, such measures are necessary to restore peace in that state.
“The obvious implication of this position by the apex court is that the President of Nigeria, or his agents, could easily contrive a security situation in any state whose governor is deemed “unfriendly” and proceed to suspend both the Governor and the State House of Assembly. Although the same judgment notes that the Constitution provides that “no arm or tier of government is constitutionally superior to another,” the clear effect of the ruling suggests the opposite and grants the President firm control over the political conduct of state governors. The ADC therefore considers this judgment an extremely dangerous threat to Nigeria’s federalism and democracy.
“The grave risk inherent in this judgment becomes even more apparent when the safeguards identified by the apex court as checks against abuse of presidential discretion are examined. These safeguards include proportionality, legislative oversight, and judicial review.
“When confronted with a President willing to do anything to retain power, including the total decimation and annihilation of opposition parties, as Nigerians have witnessed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since he assumed office, proportionality is clearly out of the question. Secondly, with the President’s effective conquest of the National Assembly, and a legislature that has shamefully reduced itself to a mere appendage of the Presidency, legislative oversight is equally implausible. Finally, on judicial review, this very judgment has settled any doubt as to the nature of review that is now possible, when the highest court in the land chooses to prioritise the letter of the law over its spirit, a spirit expressly intended to prevent the very danger the Court has now sanctioned.
“With this form of “judicial review,” the Supreme Court has inadvertently aided the imposition of constitutional tyranny on Nigeria, a dangerous form of autocracy in which those in power exploit legal frameworks and constitutional loopholes to accumulate and entrench absolute authority.
“The ADC wishes to warn Nigerians that constitutional tyranny does not always arrive through military coups. It often advances gradually, as rulers steadily erode democratic norms and institutions, precisely as we have witnessed over the past two years. What has now become painfully clear is that neither the legislature nor the judiciary can be relied upon to halt this descent.”