Supreme Court Affirms Power to Suspend Officials During Emergency Rule

The Supreme Court has upheld the powers of the President to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country and to suspend elected officials during such periods to forestall a breakdown of law and order.

In a split decision of six-to-one delivered on Monday, the apex court dismissed a suit filed by the Adamawa State Government, alongside 10 other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led states, challenging the emergency rule declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State earlier in March.

The suit had questioned the legality of President Tinubu’s decision to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months, replacing them with a sole administrator.

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Justice Mohammed Idris, who read the majority judgment, held that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) grants the President the discretion to determine the necessary measures to be taken during a state of emergency.

The court affirmed that this discretion includes the power to suspend elected officials within a limited timeframe.

Consequently, the court struck out the plaintiffs’ suit for want of jurisdiction, upholding the preliminary objections raised by the National Assembly and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

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However, in a dissenting judgment, Justice Obande Ogbuinya disagreed with the majority. He argued that while the President has the power to declare a state of emergency, the constitution does not grant him the authority to suspend elected representatives.

The ruling effectively validates the federal government’s intervention in the Rivers crisis, which saw the suspension of democratic structures earlier in the year before being lifted in September.