President Bola Tinubu has announced the suspension of emergency rule in Rivers State, which began six months ago.
Tinubu, who announced this in a statement he signed on Wednesday, explained that from the intelligence available to him, there was 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, he said, was undoubtedly a welcome development for him and a remarkable achievement for the country.
“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.
“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, Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, 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,” said Tinubu.
He recalled that the state of emergency in Rivers became inevitable following what he described as a “total paralysis of governance” in Rivers that left the governor and the House of Assembly unable to work together.
The President said the crisis also affected critical economic assets of the state, including oil pipelines, which were being vandalised.
Failed Early Intervention
He stated that his intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck to their guns to the detriment of peace and development of Rivers State.
“The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the governor, while 27 members opposed the governor.
“The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs.
“That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the executive and the legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State” Tinubu said.
“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 17, 2025,” he added.
The President commended the National Assembly for taking steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation.
He also thanked traditional rulers and the people of Rivers for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until it ended.
‘I’m Aware Criticisms’
Tinubu further stated that he was aware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which he said led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, to invalidate the declaration.
But he added that it would have been a colossal failure on his part as President not to have made the proclamation.
“That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the state to peace, order and security.
“Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” Tinubu said in his statement.
“As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level. The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy.
“However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders,” he added.
Political Rift
Fubara succeeded Nyesom Wike as governor of Rivers State after the 2023 governorship election, but less than two years into office and the governor and his predecessor locked horns over the control of the political structure in the oil-rich state.
Amid the political crisis, which also involved the Martin Amaewhule-led Rivers State House of Assembly, President Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended the governor and his deputy, as well as the House of Assembly members, for six months in the first instance.
Hinging his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, Tinubu said he could not continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.
The president immediately appointed and swore in a retired naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), as the sole administration for the oil-rich Niger Delta state.
Reconciliation
But in June the President met with Fubara, Wike, Amaewhule, and other members of the assembly, signally a reconcilliation among the key actors.
Fubara and Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were later seen attending a ceremony together in the state.
Controversial Council Polls
Despite opposition, Ibas inaugurated the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) led by Michael Odey in July.
On August 30, RSIEC conducted local government elections across 23 councils.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) won in 20 council, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won in three local government areas.
The Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd), in a group photograph with the newly elected Local Government Chairmen in Rivers State on September 1, 2025.
While receiving the comprehensive report on the local government elections at the government house in Port Harcourt on , Ibas declared that the mandate entrusted to him by President Tinubu under the emergency rule in the state had been “sufficiently achieved” with the restoration of democratic governance at the grassroots.
