Fubara: Do Not Withdraw Supreme Court Suit, Experts Warn PDP Governors
Despite a new peace agreement signed by previously feuding factions in Rivers State, experts have urged governors on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform not to give in to pressure to withdraw their Supreme Court suit challenging President Bola Tinubu’s suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
According to them, the Supreme Court should provide a ruling on the contentious Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which the president claimed he used to suspend the democratically elected governor on March 18, 2025.
Ojo and Nweke stated that the Supreme Court’s decision would end the debate regarding whether it is legitimate for a president to suspend a serving governor after declaring a state of emergency.Nweke, a Professor of Politics and Governance at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, claims that no provision of the constitution permits a president to suspend a democratically elected governor.
The don stated, “The legal argument should be on whether the president has the authority to suspend democratic structures, not just the executive but also the legislative branches of government.
“Democratic structures were suspended. That, to me, is an anomaly. That is expressly prohibited under the Constitution.
“Legally speaking, I do not see anything to has justified what the president has done, but politically speaking, it may have saved the governor from being impeached.”
“I want to encourage people who have gone to court to enable the case to continue so that it can improve our legal terminology and discourse about the state of emergency. So, at the end of the day, we would have learnt some lessons.
“It was not Governor Fubara who went to court to challenge (his suspension); it may be civil society organisations, it may be PDP Governors’ Forum who is in court, for me and for the benefit of the students I teach and for the purposes of research and the political development of Nigeria, those litigations should go on so that a lot of people will learn a lot and be enriched in our literature,” the doctoral candidate said.
Ojo, a political pundit, agreed with the professor, stating that even if the political elite put pressure on PDP governors and civil society groups that are in court to dispute the constitutionality of the president’s decision, they should not back down.
“This was not a suit filed by the suspended governor, deputy governor, or lawmakers; it was filed by civil society, and there is a tendency for them to see it through, as long as no pressure is put on them to withdraw, because I also know that the political elite will stop at nothing.” They may press the leaders of those civil society to withdraw the lawsuit in the interest of peace,” he stated.
Ojo accused the president of making a mistake when he suspended Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months due to the state’s political instability.
“It would be very interesting if the civil society organisations that have gone to court can see it through to the apex court and have a definite conclusion,” said Mr. Singh.
Caption for the general photo: President Tinubu (centre), flanked by Governor Fubara (left) and FCT Minister Wike, poses with Rivers Assembly legislators at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on June 26, 2025.
For the past two years, Nyesom Wike, Rivers State’s immediate past governor, and his estranged ex-political godson, Fubara, have been at odds over control of the state’s political system.
Martins Amaewhule, the Speaker of the State Assembly who is close to Wike, has threatened to impeach Fubara for allegedly failing to implement a Supreme Court ruling on the state’s political situation.
Tinubu will eventually suspend both the executive and legislative branches of government and persuade the National Assembly to approve his decision. The president quickly named and swore in former naval leader Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd) as the sole administrator of the oil-rich Niger Delta state, a move that was widely denounced.
On March 19, 2025, President Bola Tinubu swore in Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as sole administrator for Rivers State in Abuja.
Eleven PDP governors quickly moved the Supreme Court to contest the president’s authority to suspend a democratically elected governor. Some civil society organisations are also challenging the president’s decision in lower courts.
On June 26, 2025, three months after the implementation of emergency rule in Rivers, Wike, Fubara, and the Amaewhule camp met with Tinubu in Abuja and claimed that they had all “agreed to work together,” an announcement that Nigerians have received with mixed views.