Supreme Court Upholds President’s Power to Declare Emergency, Suspend Elected Officials

The Supreme Court has affirmed that the President has constitutional power to declare a state of emergency in any state of the federation to prevent a breakdown of law and order or a slide into chaos and anarchy.

In a 6–1 majority decision delivered on Monday, the apex court held that, once a valid state of emergency is in place, the president may suspend elected officials for a limited period as part of the measures taken to restore normalcy.

In the lead judgment, Justice Mohammed Idris ruled that Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution empowers the President to adopt “extraordinary measures” where emergency rule is declared.

He noted that the Constitution does not spell out the exact nature of those measures, thereby giving the President discretion on how to implement emergency powers, provided they are aimed at restoring order.

The judgment arose from a suit filed by Adamawa State and 10 other states governed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the legality of the state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State, during which elected state officials were suspended for six months.

Justice Idris first upheld preliminary objections filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly, who were listed as defendants. He held that the 11 PDP-led states failed to disclose any reasonable cause of action capable of invoking the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction. On that basis, he struck out the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Despite striking out the case, the court went on to consider the substantive issues and, on the merits, dismissed the suit, effectively endorsing the President’s actions under the emergency proclamation.

However, Justice Obande Ogbuinya delivered a dissenting opinion. While agreeing that the President has the power to declare a state of emergency under Section 305, he held that such power does not extend to suspending elected officials such as governors, deputy governors and members of state houses of assembly. In his view, emergency powers cannot be used as a tool to sideline democratically elected authorities.