PORTHARCOURT: The federal high court in Port Harcourt has adjourned hearing on the suit challenging the emergency rule in Rivers State to May 26, 2025, after lawyers representing President Bola Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, and other defendants failed to appear.
The case, filed by Farah Dagogo, a former House of Representatives member, contests the legality of suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the state House of Assembly under the presidential declaration of March 18. Dagogo listed Tinubu, the Senate president, the Senate, the House speaker, and Ibok-Ete Ibas, the state’s sole administrator, as defendants.
At Monday’s proceedings, only Ibas was represented in court, with senior advocate Kehinde Ogunwumiju appearing for him.
Dagogo’s counsel, Cosmas Enweluzo, told the court that all defendants had been properly served. Ogunwumiju requested more time to respond to the originating summons.
Justice Adamu Mohammed cautioned against unnecessary delays but granted the adjournment, stressing that the case would proceed on May 26.
Speaking after the session, Enweluzo argued that the president acted outside the constitution by suspending an elected governor. The president cannot act as a ‘tin god’.
He lacks the constitutional authority to suspend elected representatives or govern over four million Rivers people by fiat. This is a constitutional aberration, the lawyer said.
He also questioned the rationale behind citing insecurity as justification, noting that other states like Benue, Plateau, and Borno face graver crises yet were not subjected to emergency rule.
President Tinubu had imposed the six-month emergency rule in March, suspending Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all state lawmakers, while appointing retired naval chief Ibok-Ete Ibas as sole administrator.
