After Six Months of Political Drama, Tinubu Lifts State of Emergency in Rivers, Restores Fubara, Assembly

By: Israel Adeleke 

OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that after six months of political drama in the state, President Bola Tinubu, has announced the end of the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, declaring that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will return to their offices with effect from Wednesday, September 18, 2025.

OTN News further reports that the President, who disclosed this in a nationwide broadcast, on Wednesday, said that there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance.

Tinubu reminiscing on the necessity of the moves taken, said that the measure, declared on March 18, 2025, was a constitutional necessity to halt the paralysis of governance in the oil-rich state, where a protracted power tussle between the executive and legislature plunged the state into crisis.

The President also recalled that the Supreme Court had affirmed the absence of effective government in the state, following bitter divisions that left 27 lawmakers at loggerheads with the governor, while only four backed him.

Accordance to him, even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments, held that there was no government in Rivers State.

“My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development,” Tinubu stated.

OTN News had earlier reported that under this emergency rule, the offices of the governor, deputy governor, and elected members of the State Assembly were suspended for six months.

Subsequently, Tinubu justified the move by saying that the constitutional tool became inevitable to avert anarchy and safeguard national assets, including oil pipelines that had come under attack.

He maintained that the drastic step was necessary to restore law, order, and governance. 

“Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he added.

Furthermore, the President expressed optimism that the state’s political stakeholders have embraced a new spirit of cooperation and readiness to return to democratic governance.

“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 stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months,” Tinubu said.

Tinubu, thanked the National Assembly, traditional rulers, and the people of Rivers for their support, while acknowledging over 40 court cases filed to challenge the proclamation. 

He, however, urged governors and state assemblies nationwide to prioritise peace and constructive engagement to ensure the delivery of democratic dividends.