Nigeria’s Supreme Court has delivered a major judgment on presidential powers. On 15 December 2025, the court ruled (by six justices to one) that the President can declare a state of emergency in any state and, during that period, temporarily suspend elected officials such as governors and state lawmakers.
The case was brought by Adamawa and 10 other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)–led states. They challenged President Bola Tinubu’s March 2025 emergency rule in Rivers State, which saw Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu and the entire House of Assembly suspended for six months while a sole administrator ran the state.
What exactly did the Supreme Court decide?
In the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris said Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution allows the President to take “extraordinary measures” once a valid state of emergency is declared.
Because the section does not list every possible step, the court held that the President has discretion on how to act, including suspending elected officials for a limited time to restore order.
Before reaching that point, the court first agreed with the Attorney‑General of the Federation (AGF) and the National Assembly that the PDP states had not shown enough direct legal injury to trigger the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction.
It struck out the suit for lack of jurisdiction, but then still went on to consider the issues and dismissed their arguments on the merits.
Justice Obande Ogbuinya disagreed. In his lone dissent, he accepted that the President can declare emergency rule, but argued that this power should not be used to suspend governors, deputies or lawmakers, whose removal is already clearly set out elsewhere in the Constitution.
How did we get here? The Rivers State emergency
On 18 March 2025, President Tinubu declared a six‑month state of emergency in oil‑rich Rivers State, amid a long political crisis between Governor Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike (now a federal minister), as well as the state house of assembly members. Tinubu, however explicitly cited fresh militant attacks on pipelines as reason for the declaration.
In the same broadcast he suspended the governor, the deputy governor and all members of the House of Assembly, and appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok‑Ete Ibas as sole administrator. The National Assembly quickly approved the proclamation.
The emergency rule ended on 17 September 2025, when Tinubu said peace had improved and ordered Fubara, Odu and the Assembly back to office.
What does the judgment mean in practice?
In simple terms, the court has confirmed two big ideas at once.
First, it says clearly that the President can use Section 305 to take very strong steps when a state faces serious breakdown of order.
That includes declaring emergency rule and sending in more security forces. Most lawyers already agreed on that part.
Next, and more controversially, the court accepts that those “extraordinary measures” can include suspending elected state officials for a time, as long as the emergency itself is valid and the suspension is not open‑ended.
The judgment does not, however, spell out how long is “too long” or set detailed tests for when such suspensions are justified.
This gives the Presidency a much stronger hand over state governments than many constitutional experts previously believed.
Civil society groups and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had repeatedly argued that Section 305 allows emergency rule but does not allow the President to remove or suspend governors or state assemblies at all.
Because this is now a Supreme Court ruling, it will guide future cases unless the Constitution is amended or the court changes course later.
Political impact and worries about abuse
The political effects reach beyond Rivers. Opposition‑controlled states fear the judgment could be used as a template: if a state falls into deep political crisis or serious insecurity, the federal government can now point to this case to justify emergency rule and temporary suspensions of elected leaders.
That fear is especially strong with the 2027 general elections on the horizon.
Supporters of the ruling argue that it simply gives the President the tools needed to stop a state from collapsing.
In court and in earlier public statements, AGF Lateef Fagbemi said Rivers had reached a point where “extraordinary measures” were needed, insisting that the officials were only suspended, not removed, so that peace could be restored. The majority judgment closely tracks that reasoning.
How has the public reacted?
The PDP, which sponsored the case, has strongly condemned the outcome.
In a statement signed by its spokesman, Ini Ememobong, the party called the ruling a “dangerous democratic bend with far‑reaching implications” and warned that it could make state governments “completely subservient” to the federal centre.
The PDP says it respects the court’s authority but wants the National Assembly to quickly tighten the Constitution and laws on emergency powers.
A particularly strong reaction has come from lawyer and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Kenneth Okonkwo.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, he argued that while the President can declare a state of emergency, he should not be allowed to suspend elected officials.
He criticised the court for striking out the case for lack of jurisdiction yet still going on to make wide pronouncements, saying, “They said they don’t have jurisdiction, so they just stated an opinion.”
Okonkwo warned that the judgment could set a “dangerous precedent,” arguing that it appears to give a president the power to suspend all 36 governors at once and, in his words, rule the country “with the military for a limited time” under nationwide emergency rule.
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He also said he has “lost confidence” in the judiciary and openly aligned himself with Justice Ogbuinya’s lone dissent
The Country Director of the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), Nigeria Chapter, Ambassador Abdullahi Bakoji Adamu, cautioned that emergency powers granted to the President must not be used to override the democratic mandate freely given to elected officials by the people.
He expressed concern over the implication of removing duly elected officials through emergency proclamations, describing such actions as a serious democratic issue.
“The removal of duly elected officials through emergency proclamation raises serious concerns,” he said.
“Elected leaders derive their authority from the people, and any action that suspends or removes that mandate must be treated with extreme caution and backed by strong legal justification,” he cautioned.
Long before this judgment, many professional and civic bodies had already attacked the Rivers emergency.
The NBA’s national president described the suspension of Fubara and the Assembly as unconstitutional and a “dangerous precedent,” while coalitions of civil society groups and labour unions called the move an assault on democracy and demanded its reversal.
Those earlier objections were aimed at the emergency itself, not at the court.
But because the Supreme Court has now endorsed the core of Tinubu’s approach, these groups are likely to see the judgment as deepening the risks they warned about.
For now, Nigerians are left with a sharper but more worrying answer to an old question: in a crisis, how far should a president be allowed to go, especially when the price is putting the people’s elected leaders on hold?