The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over what it described as a “dangerous bend for Nigeria’s democracy” following the Supreme Court’s split judgment on the legality of emergency powers exercised by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State.
In a press release issued on Monday, the opposition party reacted to the six-to-one Supreme Court decision in suit SC/CV/329/2025, filed by the Attorney-General of Adamawa State and other PDP-controlled states against the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly.
While noting that the apex court struck out the suit on the ground that it disclosed no cause of action, the PDP expressed concern that the court’s subsequent comments on the substantive issues have been widely interpreted as validating the President’s suspension of democratically elected officials and institutions in Rivers State during the emergency rule declared earlier in the year.
The party said it respected the authority and finality of the Supreme Court but warned that the interpretation of the court’s reasoning poses grave dangers to Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and federal structure.
According to the PDP, the Constitution clearly limits the removal of a sitting governor to either the State House of Assembly or a court of law, arguing that no other authority, even under emergency powers is empowered to suspend a governor, deputy governor, or a state legislature, whether temporarily or otherwise.
“To hold otherwise,” the party cautioned, “is to create a pathway by which a President, with the active support of the National Assembly, can compel political compliance or alignment through emergency powers in ways never envisaged by the Constitution.”
The PDP warned that such an interpretation could reverse hard-won democratic gains, reduce state governments to subservient entities of the Federal Government, and encourage a rush by opposition-controlled states to “connect to the centre” by defecting to the ruling party to avoid political strangulation.
Even more troubling, the party argued, is the potential abuse of the phrase “extraordinary measures to restore peace and security” under Section 305(3)(c) of the Constitution, which it said could, if stretched further, be used in the future to justify the suspension of other constitutional institutions — including the judiciary.
“We cannot reconcile how, in a federation and not a unitary system, 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 statement said.
As part of its response, the PDP called on the National Assembly to urgently initiate constitutional and legislative safeguards to clearly define and limit the scope of presidential emergency powers in order to prevent abuse and preserve Nigeria’s federal system.
The party also urged Nigerians, civil society organisations, the media and the international democratic community to remain vigilant in defending constitutionalism, federalism and the sanctity of the electoral mandate.
The PDP expressed hope that the Supreme Court would, at the next opportunity, provide clearer guidance on the constitutional boundaries of emergency powers in the overriding interest of democracy, justice and the long-term stability of the country.
The statement was signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, mnipr, National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, and dated December 15, 2025.
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