The Supreme Court on Monday (15/12/25) finally pronounced judgement in the suit filed by Adamawa and 10 other Peoples Democratic Party-controlled states challenging the declaration of the state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State.
In a split decision of six-to-one, the Supreme held that the plaintiffs (the 11 PDP states) failed to establish any cause of action capable of activating the original jurisdiction of the apex court and therefore upheld the power of the President to declare a state of emergency in any state to prevent a breakdown of law and order or degeneration into a state of chaos or anarchy.
In the lead majority judgment which declared that such suspension of elected officials must be within a limited period, Justice Mohammed Idris held that Section 305 of the Constitution empowers the President to deploy extraordinary measures to restore normalcy where emergency rule is declared.
According to Justice Mohammed Idris, Section 305 was not specific on the nature of the extraordinary measures, pointing out that this granted the President the discretion on how to go about it.
However, in his minority judgment, Justice Obande Ogbuinya held that although the President could declare a state of emergency, the President could not use such power as a tool to suspend elected state officials, including governors, deputy governors, and members of parliament.
