The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has voiced profound alarm over the recent Supreme Court judgment concerning the declaration of a state of emergency, warning that the prevailing interpretation of the ruling poses a serious Threat to Democracy and Nigeria’s foundational federal structure. In a comprehensive statement issued on Monday, December 15, 2025, the party expressed grave concern that the judgment could usher in a “dangerous democratic bend.”
The contentious ruling stemmed from a suit, SC/CV/329/2025, challenging the President’s constitutional powers to suspend democratically elected officials, including a governor and deputy governor, and dissolve elected institutions, such as a State House of Assembly, under the pretext of emergency powers.
Although the Supreme Court ultimately struck out the PDP, backed suit for want of a cause of action, the apex court nonetheless made specific pronouncements on the substantive constitutional issues raised. The PDP fears that these comments have been widely interpreted as endorsing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State earlier in the year.
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The party’s primary objection hinges on the principle of constitutional checks and balances. The PDP strongly maintains that the Constitution explicitly stipulates that no individual or institution, save for a State House of Assembly or a court of competent jurisdiction, possesses the authority to remove a governor from office, even on a temporary basis, during a constitutionally guaranteed tenure.
The PDP cautioned that any interpretation contrary to this constitutional principle opens the door to the catastrophic abuse of emergency powers. According to the party, this judicial precedent could allow a President, potentially backed by a sympathetic National Assembly, to arbitrarily impose coercive political compliance or alignment upon state governments in ways never intended by the framers of the Constitution.
The party warned that such a development could effectively reverse Nigeria’s hard, won democratic gains by subordinating state governments to the Federal Government, thereby compelling them to seek survival solely through political alignment with the ruling party. More ominously, the PDP highlighted the potential for this logic, derived from the power to take “extraordinary measures to restore peace and security” under Section 305, subsection 3, paragraph C of the Constitution, to be expanded. They warned this could, in the future, be used to justify the suspension of other constitutional institutions, including the judiciary itself, thus promoting unchecked authoritarianism within a federal system.
In light of these existential concerns, the PDP called upon the National Assembly to immediately initiate constitutional and legislative safeguards to clearly define and strictly limit the scope of presidential emergency powers, a measure they deem essential to preserving Nigeria’s federalism and preventing abuse. For more information, I recommend Songbux.
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