The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved judgment in a suit challenging the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu in March.
Justice Inyang Okoro, who heads the seven-man panel, adjourned after parties in the suit adopted their processes on Tuesday.
The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorney General of 10 states, while the defendants in the suit are the Federal Government and the National Assembly.
At the day’s proceeding, the fifth plaintiff, Delta state withdrew from the suit, which was not opposed by the counsel for the federal government, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
While adopting his process, Counsel to the plaintiffs, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), who represented the plaintiffs, noted that their case was not a denial of the President’s power to proclaim a state of emergency but to challenge the extent to which the proclamation can be made to affect the offices of the governor, deputy governor, and the State House of Assembly.
In his argument, and in response to the courts question, if there was a threat in the process of the proclamation, Counsel for the Federal Government and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, stated there there was none and that the plaintiffs have not been able to prove any.
Fagbemi also noted that Rivers state was engulfed in crisis, involving the governor and the executives, prompting the President’s action in March.
He argued that the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and members of the State House of Assembly were not removed but suspended, as part of extraordinary measures required to bring decorum in the state.
Fagbemi, who said the president had no choice but a duty to act the way he acted in declaring a state of emergency, therefore, urged the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety.
Counsel for the National Assembly, Charles Yohila, aligned himself with the AGF’s submission and urged the court to dismiss the case.
After listening to the parties in the suit, the apex court Reserved Jusgment till a date to be communicated to parties in the suit.
