The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu over the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the state House of Assembly.
The six-month suspension was announced following the president’s declaration of a state of emergency in the state. However, SERAP argues that the decision is unconstitutional and undermines democratic governance.
The lawsuit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, was initiated by three members of SERAP’s Volunteers’ Lawyers Network (SVLN) in Rivers State—Yirabari Israel Nulog, Nengim Ikpoemugh Royal, and Gracious Eyoh-Sifumbukho. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), who was appointed as the state’s sole administrator, were also named as defendants.
SERAP, in a statement signed by its Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, called for an order to reverse the suspension of the democratically elected officials and to nullify the appointment of the sole administrator.
“The rule of law would be a mere figure of speech if the people’s right to participation can be arbitrarily suspended or violated,” the statement read.
The rights group contends that the suspension violates the Nigerian Constitution and international legal obligations, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.
Citing constitutional provisions, SERAP emphasized that the president’s power to declare a state of emergency does not override the right of citizens to elect their leaders.
“The combined provisions of Sections 1(2), 14(1)(c), 176(1)(2), and 305(1) of the Nigerian Constitution ensure that the exercise of presidential power does not override the people’s right to participate in their own governance,” the statement asserted.
The group insists that Tinubu’s actions have damaged public trust in Nigeria’s electoral process and weakened the principles of the rule of law. It has asked the court to declare the suspension “unlawful, unconstitutional, null, and void” and to prevent Vice Admiral Ibas from acting as Rivers State’s administrator.
“No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit,” the statement concluded.
