Governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party have filed a lawsuit at the Supreme Court to challenge President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly’s power to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara from office following the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18. 

In a shocking move that most legal scholars in Nigeria deemed to be an unconstitutional act, Mr Tinubu announced the suspension of Mr Fubara, a PDP governor, his deputy Ngozi Odu and Rivers House of Assembly members for a six-month period over claims of political instability in the state.

PDP governors from Bauchi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Enugu, Osun, Plateau, and Zamfara, all serving as litigants, have now instituted a suit before the country’s apex court challenging the power of the president to remove a democratically elected governor and other elected officials at the state level from office.

The suit mentioned Mr Tinubu and his government as the defendants, as well as the National Assembly for the part both the Senate and the House of Representatives played in ratifying and confirming the president’s proclamations, including the appointment of former chief of naval staff, Ibok-Ette Ibas as Rivers’ sole administrator.

The PDP governors urged the Supreme Court to declare that “the president has no powers whatsoever or authority to suspend a democratically elected governor and deputy governor of a state in the Federation of Nigeria under the guise of or pursuant to the proclamation of a state of emergency in any state of the federation, including the states represented by the plaintiffs,” based on the provisions of Sections 1(2), 5(2), and 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

They are also asking the apex court to declare that “the suspension of Governor Siminalaye Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly was unconstitutional, unlawful, and in gross violation of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” arguing that Mr Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to make such decisions.

The opposition governors also challenged Mr Tinubu’s decision to appoint a sole administrator, urging the court to nullify the appointment of Mr Ibas as the president lacks the statutory power to substitute a serving governor for a sole administrator.

Furthermore, they challenged the constitutionality of the voice votes used by the National Assembly to ratify Mr Tinubu’s actions, stating the move invalidated the ratification process as it didn’t fulfil the two-thirds majority vote of members of each legislative chamber mandated by the constitution.

The PDP governors urged the apex court to nullify the proclamations made by Mr Tinubu, stating that the president and the federal parliament failed to follow the due process stipulated by the constitution in declaring a state of emergency in Rivers.