On Tuesday, 18 March 2025, Nigerians were taken aback as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast, proclaimed a state of emergency in Rivers State. In a move that has since generated widespread debate, he suspended the elected State Governor, his deputy, and the entire State House of Assembly for six months, appointing an Administrator to oversee the affairs of the State. The President justified these extraordinary actions by citing the provisions of section 305 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). However, a close examination of the Constitution reveals that this proclamation is not only legally dubious but also an overreach of executive power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 305 and the Limits\nof Presidential Power<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution provides the\nframework under which a state of emergency may be declared. Specifically, the\nPresident may issue a proclamation of a state of emergency only in defined\ncircumstances, including war, breakdown of public order, natural disasters, or\na clear and present danger to the security of the country or any part thereof.\nHowever, such a proclamation is subject to strict procedural safeguards. Notably:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nowhere in section 305 is the President empowered to\nunilaterally suspend the Governor, Deputy Governor, or members of the State\nHouse of Assembly. The Nigerian Constitution is explicit in its commitment to\nfederalism, ensuring that State governments retain their autonomy. By removing\nelected officials and imposing an Administrator, President Tinubu has taken a\nstep that is not supported by the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Section 11:\nMisinterpretation and Overreach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some legal analysts have pointed to section 11 of the\nConstitution as potential justification for the President\u2019s actions. Section\n11(4) and (5) provide that in situations where the House of Assembly is unable\nto perform its functions, the National Assembly may legislate for that State.\nHowever, even this provision does not grant the President the power to\nunilaterally dissolve a State government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, section 11 primarily deals with legislative\npowers and does not extend to executive functions, let alone authorize the\nappointment of an unelected Administrator. The intent of the drafters of the\nConstitution was never to vest in the President the power to arbitrarily remove\nelected officials outside the constitutional impeachment process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Dangerous Precedent for\nDemocracy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The actions taken by President Tinubu set a dangerous\nprecedent that, if unchallenged, could fundamentally alter Nigeria\u2019s democratic\nstructure. The Constitution establishes clear procedures for the removal of\nState officials, including impeachment under section 188 for Governors and\nDeputy Governors, and recall for legislators under section 69 and 110. The\nPresident’s unilateral suspension of elected officials disregards these\nconstitutional provisions, undermining democratic governance and the principle\nof separation of powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the President’s actions are allowed to stand, future\nadministrations may exploit this as a precedent to arbitrarily remove State\nofficials under the guise of emergency powers. This not only erodes democracy\nbut also concentrates excessive power in the hands of the Executive, in\nviolation of the spirit of constitutional federalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Way Forward: Upholding\nConstitutional Order<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n President Tinubu\u2019s proclamation of a state of emergency in\nRivers State will however need to gain support in the National Assembly, to\navoid its lapsing. Section 305 (6) of the Constitution provides that the\nNational Assembly, if in session (and it is right now), must vote by two-thirds\nmajority of its members in separate votes in the Senate and in the House of\nRepresentatives for the proclamation to stand. If not in session, they will be\nrequired to convene within ten days for the vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is unclear if the President\u2019s proclamation will garner\nthe needed votes to stand. Although party lines are blurred in the National\nAssembly, the ruling All Progressives Congress party (APC) of Tinubu only has a\ntotal of 155 out of a total of 360 seats in the House of Representatives. It\nwill need at least 240 votes to pass the proclamation. In the Senate, where the\nAPC has 60 members, at least 72 members must vote in support for the\nproclamation to succeed. Should the President fail to obtain legislative\napproval, the Governor and the State legislators must be returned to their\npositions within the next few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nigerian legal community, civil society organizations,\nand the National Assembly must take urgent steps to challenge this\nunconstitutional action. The National Assembly should refuse to approve the\nproclamation if it is found to be inconsistent with the Constitution.\nAdditionally, affected officials and concerned stakeholders should seek\njudicial intervention to affirm the illegality of the President\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nigeria\u2019s democracy thrives on adherence to the rule of\nlaw. Any deviation from constitutional principles\u2014no matter how\nwell-intentioned\u2014must be resisted. The Constitution does not give the President\nabsolute power, and the unlawful suspension of Rivers State\u2019s duly elected\nofficials must not be allowed to stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n President Tinubu\u2019s proclamation of a state of emergency in\nRivers State and his subsequent suspension of elected officials constitute a\nclear overreach of executive power. Neither section 305 nor section 11 of the\nConstitution grants the President the authority to take such actions. If\nallowed to go unchecked, this act will undermine Nigeria\u2019s federalism and set a\ndangerous precedent for future administrations. It is imperative that all\ndemocratic institutions rise to the occasion to defend the Constitution and\nprevent the erosion of Nigeria\u2019s hard-earned democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Tuesday, 18 March 2025, Nigerians were taken aback as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast, proclaimed a state of emergency in Rivers State. In a move that has since generated widespread debate, he suspended the elected State Governor, his deputy, and the entire State House of Assembly for six months, appointing an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3774,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3771\/revisions\/3774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}