A legal practitioner, Kenneth Okonkwo, has stated that Nigeria would have been better served if the Supreme Court had refrained from making pronouncements on the emergency rule declared by President Bola Tinubu in Rivers State, after admitting it lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
Okonkwo made the statement while reacting to Monday’s verdict of the apex court, which affirmed the President’s authority to declare a state of emergency in any state to avert a breakdown of law and order or a slide into chaos or anarchy.
In a split decision of six to one, the Supreme Court ruled that during a state of emergency, the President can suspend elected officials, provided such suspension is for a limited period.
The ruling backs President Tinubu’s action in suspending the Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the state House of Assembly for six months when he imposed emergency rule in the state in March.
However, Okonkwo, who is also a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) National Working Committee (NWC), faulted the court’s position.
He maintained that although the President is constitutionally empowered to declare a state of emergency, he does not possess the authority to suspend elected officials.
Okonkwo also criticised the Supreme Court for striking out the suit for lack of jurisdiction, yet proceeding to address the substance of the case before dismissing it.
According to him, once the court acknowledged it lacked jurisdiction, it should not have gone further to comment on the issue.
“They said they don’t have jurisdiction, so they just stated an opinion. It means that what they just stated is an opinion, but their opinion still matters in legal issues,” Okonkwo said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
“If I were in their position, I wouldn’t have done that. As an apex court, they have the right to simply decline jurisdiction and not make any other comments. That is a right given to them, rather than throwing the nation into confusion,” he added.
Implication
Okonkwo argued that the judgment appears to grant the President the power to suspend all 36 governors and potentially govern Nigeria with the military for a limited period.
The lawyer said he has lost confidence in the country’s judicial system, stressing:
“As a lawyer, I am not confident in the judicial system because their judgments are not reflecting the rule of law.”
He, however, praised the lone dissenting Justice in the Rivers emergency rule case, noting that he aligns with that position.
“I am not confident in the judgments coming out from our courts. Thank God there was one dissenting voice among the Supreme Court Justices, and I have the right to align myself with him,” Okonkwo said.