State of emergency: S’Court judgment justifies authoritarianism, threatens democracy — PDP faction 

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The Peoples Democratic Party has warned that the Supreme Court’s judgment on the President’s emergency powers could open the door to authoritarianism, undermine Nigeria’s federal structure and threaten democratic governance.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, said in a statement on Monday that the interpretation of the Supreme Court judgment may embolden the Federal Government to subjugate states and dismantle constitutionally elected institutions under the guise of restoring peace and security.

The Supreme Court ruling arose from a suit filed by states governed by the PDP, contesting President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, during which elected state officials were suspended for a six-month period.

The apex court had reserved judgment on the case in October.

The suit was instituted by the Attorneys-General of PDP-controlled states against the Federal Government and the National Assembly.

The plaintiffs were the Attorneys-General of Adamawa, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara and Bayelsa states.

Marked SC/CV/329/2025 and anchored on eight grounds, the action sought the Supreme Court’s interpretation on whether the President possesses the constitutional power to suspend a democratically elected state government, and whether the process followed in declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State violated the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

In a split decision of six to one delivered on Monday, the Supreme Court affirmed the President’s constitutional authority to declare a state of emergency.

The court also ruled that, in such circumstances, the President may suspend elected officials, provided the suspension is limited in duration.

Reacting to the development, the PDP called for the introduction of clear constitutional and legislative safeguards to prevent the misuse of emergency powers, warning that unchecked authority could undermine democratic governance and erode Nigeria’s federal structure.

The party stated, “While we respect the authority of the apex court and recognise its finality within our jurisdiction, we are nevertheless compelled to draw attention to the grave dangers that can emanate from the interpretation of the reasoning in this judgment on the political landscape of our country.

“Our concern is anchored on the age-long principle of law that the express mention of one thing excludes others (expressio unius est exclusio alterius), and the clear constitutional position that no person or institution (other than the State House of Assembly or a court of law) is empowered to remove a Governor from office, even temporarily, during the subsistence of a constitutional term. To hold otherwise is to create a pathway by which a President, with the active support of the National Assembly, can compel political alignment or compliance through the instrumentality of emergency powers in ways not envisaged by the Constitution.

“We submit that the interpretation of this judgment has the potential to reverse the hard-won democratic gains by unwittingly making state governments completely subservient to the Federal Government, forcing them to seek to ‘connect to the centre’ by joining the ruling party, as we are already witnessing.

“More troubling is the fact that the logical extension of this reasoning, based on the provision of Section 305(3)(c) on ‘extraordinary measures to restore peace and security’, could, in the future, be interpreted to justify the suspension of other constitutional institutions, including the judiciary itself. We cannot reconcile how, in a federation (not a unitary state), an elected President can be empowered to dismantle the democratic structures of a federating unit, sack elected officials and appoint leaders there without consciously promoting authoritarianism and entrenching tyranny.”

The PDP further called on the National Assembly to swiftly put in place constitutional and legislative measures that would clearly spell out and restrict the extent of the President’s emergency powers in order to forestall possible abuse and protect Nigeria’s federal system.

The statement read in part, “As a political party wholly committed to the protection and consolidation of democracy in Nigeria, we hereby call on the National Assembly to urgently initiate constitutional and legislative safeguards that clearly define and limit the scope of emergency powers of the President, to prevent imminent abuse and preserve Nigeria’s federation.

“We also urge Nigerians, civil society organisations, the media, and the international democratic community to remain vigilant in the defence of constitutionalism, federalism, and the sanctity of the electoral mandate.

“We remain hopeful that, at the next opportunity, the Supreme Court will have cause to extensively clarify the constitutional boundaries of emergency powers, in the overriding interest of justice, democracy, and the long-term stability of our Republic.”

Abdulrahman has nearly ten years of experience reporting on political parties, elections, religion, civil society organizations, the Nigeria Governors Forum, and more

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