Rivers State has become the center of a legal battle following the declaration of a state of emergency by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has summoned the President and seven other entities in connection with the matter.
The case, registered as Suit No: FHC/PH/CS/45/2025, was filed by the Incorporated Trustees of Peoples Life Improvement Foundation, along with Precious Elekima and Inanna Wright Harry.
The plaintiffs are contesting the legality of the emergency proclamation issued on March 18, 2025.
Among those named as defendants in the suit are the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation, Rivers State Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The plaintiffs have raised constitutional concerns, questioning whether the President’s decision aligns with Nigerian law.
They argue that it violates “Section 305(3)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)” and “Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement Act).”
Their demands include a court order to:
- Prevent the Sole Administrator from appointing caretaker committees for the state’s 23 local government areas.
- Halt any appointments of commissioners or awarding of contracts.
- Restrict the administrator from accessing and spending funds from the state treasury.
- Reinstate the suspended executive and legislative arms of the Rivers State Government.
- Issue a perpetual injunction barring the President from suspending any other democratically elected officials in the state.
The court has given the defendants 30 days to respond, warning that failure to do so could result in a ruling being made in their absence.
