In a 6-1 ruling, the Supreme Court has affirmed the President’s constitutional authority to declare a state of emergency to prevent a collapse of law and order.
However, the court stipulated that the suspension of elected state officials under such a declaration must be for a limited time.
The majority judgment, delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris, found that Section 305 of the Constitution grants the President broad discretion to deploy “extraordinary measures” to restore normalcy during an emergency.
The court noted the provision does not specify these measures, leaving their nature to presidential discretion.
The case was brought by Adamawa State and ten other PDP-led states. They challenged the state of emergency declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State, which included the six-month suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and other elected officials.
Justice Idris first upheld objections from the defendants—the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Assembly—stating the plaintiffs failed to establish a cause of action that fell under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction.
He struck out the suit on jurisdictional grounds but proceeded to also dismiss it on its merits.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Obande Ogbuinya agreed the President could declare an emergency but argued this power could not be used to suspend elected officials like governors, deputies, or lawmakers.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
