Members of the Ijaw Youths Council have dragged the Federal Government before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court), the community court of justice in Abuja, over President Bola Tinubu's proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State.
On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, the President declared emergency rule in the South-South to quell the escalating political crisis that had lingered for several months.
At the same time, Tinubu suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Nma Odu, and state Assembly members, appointing a retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as the Sole Administrator for an initial period of six months.
The decision was later ratified by the National Assembly, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, albeit controversially.
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However, in disagreement with the President's decision, the Ijaw youths are seeking a court order to set aside the suspension of the elected officials and the usurpation of democratic structures and institutions in the oil-rich State.
In the suit dated March 20, the applicants are John Benjamin, Alpheus Ngere, Tamunokuro Tomquin, Comrade Ibiso, Benjamin Kemuel, Fabians Abbey, Williams Toby, Dabo Briggs, Precious Otoni, Attah Ebirin, and Tonye Stephen.
The suit filed on behalf of the applicants by the Eastern Zone of the Ijaw Youth Council wants the court to nullify all the decisions issued by Ibas as the sole administrator.
They also sought an order for $10 million for punitive and exemplary damages caused by the Federal Government's actions.
“The crux of the applicant’s complaint is anchored on the infringements on their rights to have a government of their choice as people of Rivers State in their individual and collective capacities as the defining constitutional order under the framework of democratic values laden with popular participation and legitimacy installed through popular elections,” read a part of the suit.
“The deliberate disruption of the democratic order in any part of the national structure questions the democratic practice and constitutional authenticity of the nation state, as the forceful removal of popular sovereignty in a part or fraction of the national landscape translates to the non-existence of liberal democracy and non-application and conformity with constitutional norms in the entire federation.
“The enthronement of an illegal and unconstitutional order in any form within a constitutional democracy threatens the very idea of freedom and precipitates loss of genuineness on the part of the state and its institutions of any legitimate claim to a constitutional democracy.
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“A state of emergency cannot be guise or subterfuge for the usurpation of the executive functions of the Governor or the exercise of the law making powers of the legislature.”