Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Restores Elected Leaders‎

Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Restores Elected Leaders‎

By Abiola Adigun
Albarka 89.9 FM

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the end of the six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, restoring Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly to office effective September 18, 2025.
Tinubu, in a national broadcast said the intervention had become necessary in March after governance in the oil-rich state collapsed due to a fierce standoff between the executive and legislature.
“You will recall that on March 18, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in Rivers State,” the President said. “That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the state to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court… held that there was no government in Rivers State.”
The conflict saw the House of Assembly split into two factions—27 lawmakers backing Speaker Martins Amaewhule and four others aligned with Governor Fubara—making it impossible to pass appropriation bills or carry out governance. Vandalism of oil pipelines and paralysis of state institutions worsened the crisis.
Tinubu, invoking Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, suspended the governor, deputy governor, and assembly members for six months, with the National Assembly swiftly endorsing the proclamation.
Explaining his decision to lift the emergency, Tinubu said intelligence reports showed a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm” among political actors in Rivers for peace and democratic governance.
“It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State shall end with effect from midnight today,” he said.
The President acknowledged dissenting voices who challenged his proclamation in court but maintained that the action was constitutional and necessary. “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he noted.
Tinubu used the opportunity to caution leaders across Nigeria: “It is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.”
The lifting of the emergency marks the return of Rivers’ elected officials to their offices expectations high that both arms of government will now work harmoniously in the interest of the state’s citizens.
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