President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the State House of Assembly for an initial six months.
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Daily News 24 reports that in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, Tinubu said the prolonged political crisis in Rivers had crippled governance, with all mediation efforts failing to resolve the impasse. He accused the governor of unconstitutional actions, including demolishing the House of Assembly complex in December 2023 without rebuilding it.
“I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, 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,” he said.
The president cited a Supreme Court ruling on February 28, 2025, which declared that Rivers State lacked a functional government due to the collapse of the legislative arm. He also alleged that militants loyal to the governor had issued threats and engaged in vandalizing oil pipelines without any response from the state government.
“With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will stand by and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state,” Tinubu said.
To oversee governance during the emergency period, the president appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as administrator. He emphasized that the judiciary would continue functioning and that the administrator would not enact new laws but could formulate regulations subject to approval by the Federal Executive Council.
Tinubu stated that the proclamation had been published in the Federal Gazette and forwarded to the National Assembly for ratification, expressing hope that the intervention would restore peace and order in Rivers State.
