PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has adjourned to Monday, May 26, 2025, the suit challenging the legality of President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State and the suspension of the state’s elected leadership.
The suit, filed by Farah Dagogo, a former member of the House of Representatives, contests the constitutional validity of the president’s March 18 decision to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and the entire state house of assembly.
The federal government cited a prolonged political crisis in the oil-rich state as grounds for the emergency declaration.
The defendants in the suit include President Tinubu, the Senate President, the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Ibok-Ete Ibas, the retired naval chief appointed as Rivers State’s sole administrator.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, May 12, 2025, only Ibas was represented in court.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria Kehinde Ogunwumiju appeared on his behalf.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Cosmas Enweluzo, told the court that all five defendants had been served with court documents, as ordered in April by Justice Adamu Mohammed, who directed that processes be delivered via courier and pasted at the defendants’ last known addresses.
Ogunwumiju requested more time to respond to the originating summons, prompting the court to grant an adjournment but not without a warning.
Justice Mohammed cautioned against further delays and insisted the matter would proceed on May 26 without fail.
Addressing reporters after the hearing, Enweluzo questioned the constitutional basis of the president’s actions, calling them “a constitutional aberration.”
“The president cannot act as a ‘tin god’. He does not have the constitutional authority to suspend elected representatives or govern over four million Rivers people and those doing business in the state by fiat,” he said.
He further argued that the justification of insecurity in the state was unfounded when compared to persistent violence in other regions.
“In Benue, Plateau, and Borno states, serious security challenges persist, people are being killed, and some local governments remain under Boko Haram control. Yet no state of emergency was declared there. Rivers State has remained relatively peaceful.”
Enweluzo also acknowledged that Ibas’s legal team had begun filing their defence, and agreed to the adjournment in good faith, noting that any further stalling could result in the court proceeding in the absence of other parties.
