The Because Of Our Tomorrow (BOOT) Party and its top officials have filed a lawsuit against President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government over the suspension of Rivers State’s elected officials following the recent declaration of a state of emergency in the oil-rich state.
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The suit, lodged at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, seeks a declaration that the president “cannot take over the control and functions of the democratically elected government of a state” under the guise of an emergency proclamation. The plaintiffs argue that appointing a Sole Administrator to govern a state is unconstitutional.
Filed jointly by the BOOT Party, its national chairperson Sunday Adenuga, and Rivers State chapter chairperson Abednego Oli on 9 April, the plaintiffs are asking the court to nullify the National Assembly’s approval of the state of emergency, describing it as a gross violation of Nigeria’s Constitution.
They also prayed the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Accountant General of the Federation, and all banks in Nigeria from releasing Rivers State funds to any Sole Administrator or any other office not recognized by the Constitution.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, and 14 principal officers of the National Assembly were also named as co-defendants alongside Tinubu and the Federal Government.
The BOOT Party further claimed that the emergency rule denied them the opportunity to participate in the Rivers State local government elections scheduled for 9 August. They are demanding N20 billion in compensation from the Federal Government for the “tensions, emotional trauma, waste, and losses” suffered as a result of the emergency declaration.
Recall that President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on 18 March, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. He appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas as Sole Administrator, citing rising insecurity, pipeline vandalism, and political unrest linked to a rift between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
While the House of Representatives and later the Senate approved the emergency rule, the BOOT Party contends that the National Assembly’s approval was improperly done through a voice vote instead of the constitutionally mandated two-thirds majority.
In their prayers, the plaintiffs are urging the court to:
- Declare the emergency rule in Rivers State unconstitutional and void.
- Nullify the appointment of a Sole Administrator.
- Restore Governor Fubara and other suspended officials.
- Compel the Federal Government and National Assembly to lift the emergency rule.
- Restrain financial institutions from releasing funds to any Sole Administrator or other unconstitutional officeholders.
- Award N20 billion in damages for disruption to their political activities.
The BOOT Party’s legal action comes after seven states, led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), earlier approached the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the suspension of elected officials in Rivers State under the emergency rule.
No hearing date has been set yet for the BOOT Party’s lawsuit.
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