State of Emergency in Rivers: What Tinubu's Decision Means for the Future

In a countrywide broadcast on Tuesday, Tinubu issued the proclamation, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and every member of the House of Assembly for a period of six months.

Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) was appointed by the president as the administrator to oversee state affairs for the first six months.

The proclamation was issued by the president using Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution. According to this section, a state of emergency occurs when a government suspends regular constitutional processes in order to retake control of the country due to a national emergency, natural disaster, or terrorist attack.

When a state of emergency is declared, the president can enact any laws he wants to protect public safety and order.

The whole northeastern states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, which are rife with insurgencies, were placed under a state of emergency on May 14, 2013, by then-President Goodluck Jonathan. On December 31, 2011, areas of the states of Yobe, Borno, Plateau, and Niger were placed under a more restricted state of emergency. The international boundaries in those areas were temporarily closed as part of this previous announcement.

The lengthy power struggle between Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and his estranged former political godson Fubara for control of the political system in the oil-rich Rivers State appeared to have no end in sight for around two months.

Pipelines have reportedly exploded in the state as the political tension heightened, with civil servants threatening mass protests against the Martins Amaewhule faction in the House of Assembly loyal to Wike.

Tinubu stated, “The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. Naturally, I have given the security services strict instructions to protect the lives of the decent residents of Rivers State as well as the oil pipelines.

Given all of these and many more, no decent and responsible president will watch helplessly as the dire circumstances persist without implementing the constitutionally mandated corrective actions to address the state's predicament, which undoubtedly calls for drastic measures to restore peace, order, security, and good governance.

Since the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State have not asked me, as President, to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, and I have carefully considered and assessed the political situation in Rivers State, it is imperative that I invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to impose a state of emergency in Rivers State, which I do, effective today, March 18, 2025.

"With this announcement, all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, along with the governor, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, and his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, are suspended for a first six months.

"I thus designate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to oversee state business in the best interests of Rivers State's decent citizens in the interim.

For the sake of clarity, Rivers State's judiciary is unaffected by this statement and will continue to operate in line with its constitutional mission.

"No new laws will be made by the Administrator. However, he will have the freedom to create any regulations that he deems essential to carry out his duties; however, these must be reviewed and approved by the Federal Executive Council before being issued by the state president.

In compliance with the Constitution, a copy of this declaration, which was published in the Federal Gazette, has been sent to the National Assembly.

"I sincerely hope that by making all the candidates aware of the constitutional requirements that apply to all political actors in Rivers State specifically and Nigeria generally, this unavoidable intervention will aid in the restoration of peace and order in Rivers State."