Rivers indigenes move to stop LG poll, drag Tinubu, sole administrator to court

A few Rivers State natives have filed a lawsuit to prevent the state’s August 30, 2025, local government election.

The complaint, which was numbered FHC/ABJ/C’S/1144/2025, named President Bola Tinubu, the Rivers State Government, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas, the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, or RSIEC, as the first through fourth defendants.

In a lawsuit filed by their attorney, Sunday Ezema, the plaintiffs—Fredrick Ededeh, Benita Samuel, Jane Madubuike, Boma Aggo, and Comfort Agbom—all Rivers State natives, asked the Abuja Federal High Court to halt the election, claiming that the environment is not yet suitable for conducting it during the emergency rule.

In the lawsuit filed on August 11, 2025, the plaintiffs sought the court to interpret whether it was legal to hold Rivers State’s planned local government council elections while a state of emergency was in effect.

The plaintiffs contended in the original summons that President Bola Tinubu had declared in the State of Emergency (Rivers State) Proclamation, 2025, that there is “clear and present danger or imminent breakdown of public order and public safety” & “clear and present danger of looming crises” that has impacted “good governance, peace, security, and order” in Rivers State.

The plaintiffs argue that the President has not canceled or discontinued the state of emergency because the emergency situation in Rivers State has not decreased or stopped as of yet.

When there is no “public order” or “public safety” in the state during a state of emergency, they questioned the legitimacy of the council elections.

The plaintiffs also asserted that, in accordance with the President’s proclamation, voters are not permitted to cast ballots during emergencies or when “good governance, peace, security, and order” are disrupted, as is the case in Rivers State.

Therefore, the indigenous people of Rivers petitioned the court to prevent the council elections from happening on August 30, 2025, or on any other day while the state of emergency was in effect.

Additionally, if the elections are held during a state of emergency, the plaintiffs are pleading with the court to declare the votes invalid.

The plaintiffs specifically request the following reliefs from the court:

“The first defendant, President Tinubu, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, citing the “clear and present danger or imminent breakdown of public order and public safety” and the “clear and present danger of the looming crises.” As a result, the first defendant refused to revoke the State of Emergency (Rivers State) Proclamation, 2025, either before or on August 30, 2025, or at any other date before the six-month period from March 18, 2025, had passed.

“A declaration that the second, third, and fourth defendants are not permitted to legally hold the Rivers State local government council elections while the state is under a state of emergency or while it is still in effect.

“Any local government council elections held in Rivers State by the second, third, and fourth defendants during the period of, subsistence, and/or the pendency of the State of Emergency in Rivers State, on August 30, 2025, or at any other date, are illegal, unconstitutional, and null and void in their entirety because the first defendant’s declaration of a “clear and present danger or imminent breakdown of public order and public safety” and the “clear and present danger of the looming crises” in Rivers State.”