The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to nullify President Bola Tinubu’s March 18 proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
Justice James Omotosho, delivering judgment on Thursday, held that the five plaintiffs led by Belema Briggs lacked the legal standing to challenge the declaration, noting that only the Supreme Court could entertain such a case.
The court further ruled that the plaintiffs neither suffered any injury beyond that of ordinary citizens nor had the consent of the Rivers State Attorney General to sue.
Justice Omotosho also upheld Tinubu’s justification that the emergency rule — which suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the state assembly, and installed an interim administrator for six months — was necessary to forestall a breakdown of law and order.
Describing the suit as “frivolous and baseless,” the judge struck it out in its entirety.
