President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers state for an initial period of six months to address the lingering political crisis in the state.

To return the state to the path of sanity, the president named a former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ibokette Ibas (retd.), as the administrator.

Citing a protracted political crisis in the state in a nationwide broadcast,Tuesday, the president announced the suspension of the Governor Siminalayi Fubara-led executive and all the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly all of whom had been at loggerheads.

With this decision, Rivers state has joined Plateau and Ekiti states which at different times, also experienced a state of emergency since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999.

Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution gives the president the power to declare a state of emergency under a set of specific conditions.

Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, Tinubu’s action marks the fourth time a state of emergency was declared by a sitting President.

At the height of widespread killings resulting from ethno-religious skirmishes in Plateau state May 2004 under Joshua Dariye, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced a declaration of a state of emergency with  Major General Chris Alli (retd.)  appointed administrator.

Also, President Obasanjo in October 2006, did the same in Ekiti during which he appointed Brigadier-General Adetunji Olurin (retd) as administrator to ensure the return of sanity to the state.

The leadership crisis was occasioned by the impeachment of Governor Ayo Fayose, which plunged the state into deep political chaos.

However, another state of emergency declared in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states in 2013 was unlike the previous ones, as their governors and the various state legislatures remained.

The declaration followed the intensity of the Boko Haram insurgency which almost ravaged the affected states. A major feature of this type of the state of emergency was the huge deployment of troops and the imposition of curfew to put the insurgents under check.

It is worthy to note that the Umar Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari administrations never declared a state of emergency that suspended all executive and executive powers during their tenures.

Announcing the decision in a nationwide broadcast ,Tuesday, President Tinubu declared:  

“The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.

“With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.

“In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.

“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months,” he said.

“In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State. For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.

“The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.

“This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution. It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole,” the president added.

Giving a background to the political crisis, Tinubu said: “I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis.”

While lamenting the festering political crisis in the state, he said “there is no way democratic governance, which we have all fought and worked for over the years, can thrive in a way that will redound to the benefit of the good people of the state. The state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy.

“Also, it is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt the same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis.

“I am also aware that many well-meaning Nigerians, Leaders of thought and Patriotic groups have also intervened at various times with the best of intentions to resolve the matter, but all their efforts were also to no avail. Still, I thank them.

“On February 28, 2025, the Supreme Court, in a judgment in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, based on several grave unconstitutional acts and disregard of rule of law that have been committed by the Governor of Rivers State as shown by the evidence before it pronounced in very clear terms: “a government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State.”

“The above pronouncement came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against the Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Going forward in their judgment, and having found and held that 27 members of the House who had allegedly defected “are still valid members of Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of that House by the 8th Respondent (that is, the Governor) in cohorts with four members.

“The Supreme Court then made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy. These orders include the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly which up till now has not been facilitated.

“Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them.

“Apart from that both the House and the governor have not been able to work together. Both of them do not realise that they are in office to work together for the peace and good governance of the state.

“The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course, given stern order to the security agencies to ensure the safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.

“With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.”

Confirming that President Tinubu’s decision was in line with constitutional procedure, spokesman of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, said:  “In response to multiple inquiries, I can confirm that the National Assembly was duly consulted by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in reaching this decision.

“The leadership of the National Assembly met with the President and the National Security Adviser ahead of the broadcast, alongside key security chiefs. During this meeting, they were fully briefed on Mr. President’s intentions, and all present unanimously expressed their support.

 “Furthermore, Mr. President’s formal letter, informing the House of Representatives of his decision and seeking approval in line with Section 305 of the Constitution, has been transmitted and will be read during plenary tomorrow, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, with further legislative action to be debated and decided.”