Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has scheduled March 9 to give its decision in a new case questioning the powers of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under a state of emergency.
Gatekeepers News reports that Justice James Omotosho announced the date on Friday after listening to final arguments from lawyers representing both sides.
Counsel to the claimant, Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe, and the defence team formally adopted their written submissions before the court.
The suit was filed by the Civil Society Observatory for Constitutional and Legal Compliance, which is challenging the steps taken by the President after declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State last year.
The group is asking the court to rule on whether the President has the legal authority to remove or suspend elected officials and replace them with an interim administrator.
According to the plaintiff, although the President can declare a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution, that power does not extend to removing elected members of the executive or legislature. The group also argued that appointing an interim administrator is not supported by the Constitution.
While responding, Justice Omotosho noted that the matter was similar to earlier cases he had dismissed, pointing to issues of jurisdiction based on the Emergency Powers (Jurisdiction) Act of 1962.
He also referred to a Supreme Court judgment delivered on December 15, 2025, which reportedly struck out a related case on procedural grounds.
Ahaaiwe acknowledged the previous rulings but maintained that they were wrongly decided. He told the court that the 1962 Act was no longer valid, describing it as a spent law that was deliberately excluded from statute books before the 1999 Constitution came into force.
He further argued that any attempt to modify such a law through a presidential order in 2025 was unconstitutional, null, and void.
According to him, the constitution has fully covered the field of emergency powers, adding that no executive proclamation can alter the express provisions of Section 305.”
On their part, lawyers representing the first to fifth defendants, including the President and the Attorney-General of the Federation, insisted that the dispute falls under the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. They relied on the same 1962 Act and the modification order and asked the court to strike out the suit.
The plaintiffs are seeking 26 reliefs, among them a declaration that Rivers State cannot be governed by an appointed administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, outside constitutional provisions.
