Just In: Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers
Just In: Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers
President Bola Tinubu has announced the termination of the six-month state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, confirming that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will officially return to office on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
According to what Eagles Sight News gathers, the recent termination of the state of emergency in Rivers State is contained in the President’s statements issued Wednesday by the Presidency, explained that the emergency rule, declared on March 18, 2025, became necessary to address the “total paralysis of governance” that had engulfed the state at the time.
“It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today.
The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025,” Tinubu said.
The President recalled that the crisis between the governor and 27 lawmakers loyal to the Speaker had crippled governance in the state, with the Supreme Court even ruling at one point that “there was no government in Rivers State.”
He explained that his decision to declare the emergency was guided by constitutional provisions.
“It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency.
“The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025,” Tinubu said.
According to him, the action—which suspended the governor, deputy governor, and lawmakers—was endorsed by the National Assembly as a means of restoring peace and order. He noted that despite over 40 legal challenges filed against the proclamation, the step was constitutionally defensible.
“It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he stressed.
Tinubu further expressed satisfaction that political actors in Rivers have now embraced dialogue and reconciliation.
“I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance.
“This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it,” he said.
The President urged governors and state assemblies nationwide to work harmoniously in order to deliver good governance and the dividends of democracy.
Since the proclamation of emergency rule in March, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.) has served as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State.