President Bola Tinubu has lifted the state of emergency in Rivers State, paving the way for Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Nma Odu, and the House of Assembly led by Speaker Martins Amaewhule to return to office today, September 18, 2025.
The President, in a statement personally signed on Wednesday, said the suspension followed credible intelligence that Rivers stakeholders were now ready to embrace peace and restore democratic governance.
“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 gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State shall end with effect from midnight today,” Tinubu declared.
FILE: Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara. Facebook/Sir Siminalayi Fubara
Why the Emergency Was Declared
Tinubu reminded Nigerians that the March 2025 proclamation became inevitable after governance in the state collapsed. At the height of the crisis, the House of Assembly splintered into two rival factions—27 members opposed to the governor and four backing him—leaving Fubara unable to present a budget or access funds.
The conflict, he added, also triggered security and economic threats, including vandalism of vital oil infrastructure. Even the Supreme Court, in one of several rulings on the disputes, held that Rivers had “no functioning government.”
Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Martin Amaewhule
Faced with the paralysis, Tinubu said he was compelled under Section 305 of the Constitution to suspend the governor, his deputy, and lawmakers for six months, a move later ratified by the National Assembly
Before declaring the emergency, Tinubu and other leaders had attempted to mediate, but both camps—loyalists of Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike—refused to yield ground. The rift, rooted in a battle over control of the state’s political structure, snowballed into a standoff between the executive and legislature.
Critics and Court Battles
The President admitted the proclamation was not without opposition. More than 40 lawsuits were filed across Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa to challenge it. While some cases remain in court, Tinubu insisted the decision was both constitutional and necessary.
“It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he said.
Call for Peaceful Coexistence
With the emergency lifted, Tinubu urged all political actors in Rivers to put aside “misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations” and work in harmony for the people who entrusted them with power.
“The people expect to reap the fruits of democracy,” he said, adding that the executive and legislature must now prove that stability has returned.
Fubara and Wike, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were later seen attending a ceremony together in the state.
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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.
