Lawyers urge Abuja court to void emergency rule
Organised labour in Rivers State has warned the Federal Government over its involvement in the state’s political crisis, threatening to embark on strategic industrial actions that may disrupt national economic activities if its demands are not met within a reasonable time.
Also, the Federal High Court in Abuja has been urged to void President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers.
Labour’s threat came on the heels of the declaration of emergency in the state, which the union vehemently condemned.
The union has been vocal in its opposition to the suspension of elected officials in the state and the potential economic implications of the declaration.
In a statement signed by the Chairperson of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Rivers, Alex Agwanwor; Chairperson of Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) in the state, Chuku Emecheta (JP); and Chairperson of Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state, Ikechukwu Onyefuru, the union expressed deep concern over the state of emergency declaration.
It condemned the suspension of the governor, deputy governor and House of Assembly members, who were elected by the people of Rivers. They described the declaration as “premature and baseless.”
The labour union also highlighted the impact of the state of emergency on local council workers, who were yet to receive their salaries; hence, they were exposed to avoidable economic hardship.
The statement reads: “The Organised labour may be compelled to take strategic union actions which might disrupt national economic activities if our demands are not met within a reasonable timeframe.”
THE plaintiff, in a supporting affidavit, stated that “though the President possesses the constitutional power to declare emergency in deserving circumstances in any part of the country, he lacks the power to suspend elected officials” such as a governor, who is not his appointee.
In the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/572/2025 filed on March 25, 2025, an Abuja-based lawyer, JohnMary Jideobi, through a group of lawyers led by Chimezie Enuka, added that as a lawyer and all through his years in practice, he had not seen the word ‘Sole Administrator’ in the 1999 Constitution.
Listed as defendants in the suit are the President, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Vice Admiral Ibas and Attorneys-General of the 36 states.
The plaintiff said, “I know that neither the first defendant (President) nor the second defendant (AGF) appointed the governor and deputy-governor of Rivers and that no governor or deputy governor in Nigeria is an appointee of the first and second defendants.”
He wants the court to declare that the purported nomination/appointment and swearing-in of Ibas by Tinubu as the Sole Administrator of Rivers is unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.
Jideobi also wants an order setting aside the suspension of the governor and the deputy-governor of Rivers by the President on March 18 for being unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.
He is equally seeking an order directing Ibas to vacate, forthwith, Rivers Government House, as well as to set aside all actions and decisions of Sole Administrator for “being unconstitutional, null and of no constitutional force throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria for all purposes.”
