The Supreme Court has confirmed the president’s authority to proclaim a state of emergency in order to forestall a breakdown of law and order.
In a narrow 6–1 ruling delivered on Monday, the Supreme Court held that while the president has the authority to suspend elected officials, such action must be time-bound.
Delivering the lead judgment for the majority, Justice Mohammed Idris ruled that Section 305 of the Constitution grants the president the power to take extraordinary steps to restore order once a state of emergency is declared.
He noted that the provision does not clearly define the scope of these extraordinary measures, thereby giving the president wide discretion in determining how to implement them.
The judgment arose from a suit filed by Adamawa State alongside 10 other PDP-governed states, contesting the legality of the state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State.
The emergency proclamation had led to the suspension of several elected officials, including Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
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