Court Summons President Tinubu Over Rivers State Emergency Rule

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has summoned President Bola Tinubu and seven others over the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State. The suit, filed under Suit No: FHC/PH/CS/45/2025, challenges the legality of the emergency rule imposed on March 18, 2025.

Joined 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, the Rivers Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, the Revenue and Fiscal Mobilization Commission, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The case was brought by the Incorporated Trustees of Peoples Life Improvement Foundation, along with Precious Elekima and Inanna Wright Harry. The plaintiffs are seeking a judicial review on whether the emergency declaration violates the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

They also asked the court to restrain the Rivers Sole Administrator from appointing caretaker committees for the state’s 23 local government councils, forming a new state executive council, awarding contracts, or making withdrawals from the state treasury. Additionally, they are requesting an order to reinstate the suspended Executive and Legislative arms of government and to prevent the President from further suspending elected officials in the state.

The court has given the defendants 30 days to respond to the summons, warning that failure to do so could result in the case proceeding in their absence. The legal action was initiated by Ebere R. Ugwuja, representing the plaintiffs.