The Federal High Court located in Port Harcourt has set May 21, 2025, as the date to begin hearings on a lawsuit initiated by Belema Briggs and others against President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, and the Nigerian Navy.
The plaintiff requested a judicial interpretation of the specific parts (amended) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999, namely, articles 1, 4, 5, 11, 180, 188 and 305.
They sought a ruling from the court on whether President Tinob had constitutional powers to suspend the elected executive branch of the River State government, which has the right to guarantee a four-year period under the constitution.
Plaintiffs are competing with a state of emergency declared by President Tinubu on March 18, 2025, resulting in the governor’s suspension Siminayai Fubara, His deputy general meeting members and members of the parliament.
They believe that these actions may represent a serious violation of the above constitutional provisions.
The plaintiff also asked the court to clarify the powers of Articles 5, 11 and 305 of the Constitution in support of the president’s declaration effectively suspended the executive branch of the state government.
Furthermore, they raised the question of whether President Tinob had legal rights under Articles 4, 5 and 305 of the Constitution, demanding the appointment of retired Deputy Admiral Ibas as the sole executive officer in charge of Rivers affairs.
Naija News The plaintiffs are seeking a court ruling to determine whether the suspension of the elected executive and the subsequent appointment of the sole executive constitutes an unconstitutional confiscation of democratically elected government, which they believe is argued by Article 1 of the Constitution.
In addition, the plaintiff asserted that the rejection of the elected executive and legislative departments, and the appointment of the sole executive officer of IBAS, violated Article 13 of the African Human Rights and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, A4.
The Chairman Judge verified that all parties involved had been properly notified and had postponed the hearing until May 21, 2025.
