BREAKING: Lawyers Petition ECOWAS Court To Impose Sanction On Tinubu, NASS

Nigerian legislative attorneys, represented by the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), have petitioned the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) to impose sanctions on President Bola Tinubu regarding his declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

Additionally, the lawyers are calling for sanctions against the leadership of the National Assembly for their involvement in the ratification of the emergency rule in this oil-rich region.

Recall that President Tinubu announced the state of emergency in Rivers State during a nationwide address on March 18, 2025.

He justified his decision by expressing significant concern over the political turmoil in the state and accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of demolishing the State House of Assembly building.

Governor Fubara, along with his Deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, were suspended for an initial six-month period.

A retired Vice Admiral, Ibok-Eke Ibas, was appointed as the Sole Administrator to oversee the state’s affairs during the emergency.

Approximately one month after this declaration, Tinubu continues to face criticism from various sectors, with many Nigerians questioning the legality and appropriateness of his actions.

ALDRAP, in a letter dated April 17, 2025, had given Tinubu a seven-day deadline to reveal the legal provisions of the state of emergency proclamation that authorised Sole Administrator Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd) to appoint sole administrators for local government areas.

The lawyers have warned of potential legal action against the President should he fail to comply with their request. They are now urging the ECOWAS Court to impose sanctions on Tinubu and other pertinent Nigerian officials for the suspension of democratic governance in Rivers State.

Defendants in the suit are Tinubu and heads of government of the various ECOWAS member countries, the President of the Nigerian Senate, the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, as well as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Oversight of Rivers State, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The court document explained that the suit, among other objectives, is aimed at providing the ECOWAS Court of Justice with information and expert perspectives on the critical legal and governance issues arising from the declaration of a state of emergency within a Member State, specifically focusing on the role and responsibilities of legislative bodies including the National Assembly, “and in overseeing such declarations and the actions taken thereunder”.

ALDRAP, in the suit, stressed that the actions taken by Tinubu in imposing emergency rule in Rivers State violated ECOWAS regulations.

“The subsequent actions of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the imposition of a handpicked military administrator raise serious concerns and, in the Plaintiff’s considered view, clearly contravenes Article 1 of the Protocol A/SP1/12/01 on Democracy and Good Governance Supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security, 2000.

“Given the unequivocal violation of these core principles, particularly the zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government, the plaintiff hereby calls upon the relevant Authority to exercise its powers under Article 45 of the aforementioned Protocol and the Supplementary Act A/SP.13/02/12 on Sanctions Against Member States that Fail to Honour their Obligations to ECOWAS Act 2-SP13 of 2012 to impose appropriate sanctions on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, members of the legislature, and the Nigerian government,” parts of the lawsuit read.

The demand for sanctions on Nigerian authorities is the chief prayer sought by ALDRAP in the suit, which is yet to be assigned for hearing.

ALDRAP had also written to the Authority of Heads of State and Government – the highest organ of ECOWAS – to demand sanctions on Tinubu over the Rivers emergency rule.

ECOWAS Has No Justification For Not Imposing Sanctions on Nigerian Government

In a correspondence directed to the Authority of Heads of State and Government, which was signed by its attorney, Kenneth Amadi, and dated March 30, 2025, ALDRAP contended that ECOWAS lacks a valid reason for refraining from imposing sanctions on the Nigerian government, especially after it penalized Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic for what it deemed ‘similar’ infractions.

The letter is titled ‘A Clear Indication of the Threat of Democratic Erosion in ECOWAS: What Applies to Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali Should Equally Apply to Nigeria. An Urgent Call for the Intervention of the Authority of Heads of State of ECOWAS, the ECOWAS Parliament, and the ECOWAS Commission to Enforce Sanctions Against the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for Declaring a State of Emergency Affecting Six Million Citizens of Rivers State and Imposing Military Rule in Violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’

In the letter, ALDRAP cautioned that if ECOWAS fails to sanction Tinubu, it would indicate that the organization is biased and could further undermine democratic governance in West Africa.

“If for no other reasons, for the sake of showing to the world that ECOWAS is not what the three countries (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic) that recently exited has said it is – an institution that adopts double standard and oppresses the weak. The Nigerian President, as the chair of the Authority who president over the sanctions imposed on Niger for unconstitutional change of government, should not be allowed to do the same thing without consequences. If this is allowed to happen, we greatly fear that it would incentivise wider democratic backsliding in the region,” the letter said.

Faulting the reasons given by Tinubu for imposing the emergency rule in Rivers, the letter added, “It is important to state for the records that the President must either have been misled or decided to mislead the nation and the entire world by the reasons he gave for the declaration of a state of emergency. The President understands that the so-called crisis in Rivers State never existed beyond a fight between two individuals – the governor and the immediate past governor, who is a close ally of the President and whose side the President has not just since taken but for whose benefit the President has now also acted.”