Nigeria’s Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutional authority of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to declare a state of emergency in any part of the country when public order is threatened or governance risks collapsing into chaos and anarchy.
The apex court delivered the ruling on Monday in a closely divided decision, with six justices forming the majority and one justice dissenting. The court upheld that the President possesses the power, under the Constitution, to proclaim a state of emergency and to take extraordinary actions aimed at restoring stability, including the temporary suspension of elected officials during such periods.
Delivering the lead judgment for the majority, Justice Mohammed Idris held that Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 confers wide discretionary powers on the President once a state of emergency has been declared. He explained that the provision does not exhaustively list the nature of extraordinary measures that may be adopted, thereby allowing the President to determine appropriate actions depending on the severity of the situation.
Justice Idris further clarified that while the Constitution permits the suspension of elected officials under emergency conditions, such actions must be limited in duration and strictly tied to efforts to restore normal governance and public order.
The judgment arose from a legal challenge initiated by several states governed by the Peoples Democratic Party, following the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. During the emergency period, elected officials in the state were suspended for six months, a decision that sparked intense political and constitutional debate across the country. Okay News reports that the Supreme Court had reserved judgment in the matter after hearing arguments in October.
The plaintiffs in the case were the Attorneys-General of states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party, while the defendants were the Federal Government of Nigeria and the National Assembly. The suit was jointly filed by the Attorneys-General of Adamawa, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara, and Bayelsa States.
Marked as Suit Number SC/CV/329/2025, the case was anchored on eight grounds. The plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court to determine whether the President has the constitutional authority to suspend a democratically elected state government and whether the procedures followed in declaring the state of emergency in Rivers State were consistent with constitutional requirements.
Among the reliefs sought, the plaintiffs requested the court to decide “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.”
They also asked the court to determine “whether, upon a proper construction and interpretation of Sections 1(2), 4(6), 11(4) and (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 an earlier portion of the ruling, Justice Idris upheld preliminary objections raised by the defendants, namely the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly. He held that the plaintiffs failed to establish a dispute capable of invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
The court agreed, by a majority decision, that the plaintiffs did not demonstrate the existence of an actionable conflict between the states and the Federation, thereby rendering the suit incompetent. Consequently, the suit was struck out for want of jurisdiction. Nevertheless, Justice Idris proceeded to examine the substantive issues raised and dismissed the case on its merits.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Obande Ogbuinya held a contrary view. While he agreed that the President possesses the authority to declare a state of emergency, he ruled that such power does not extend to suspending elected officials, including Governors, Deputy Governors, and members of State Houses of Assembly.
The decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for Nigeria’s constitutional practice, federalism, and the balance of power between the Federal Government and the states.
