● Governor Fubara, Deputy, and Assembly Members to Resume Duties September 18
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has officially declared an end to the six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, citing improved cooperation among political stakeholders and a return to constitutional order.
In a televised address from the State House on Wednesday, the President announced that the emergency measures, first declared on March 18, 2025, would expire at midnight on September 17. The decision, he said, follows encouraging signs of renewed collaboration between the state’s executive and legislative arms.
“With the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding and enthusiasm among stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance,” President Tinubu stated.
The state of emergency, which had suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, was triggered by what Tinubu described as a “total paralysis of governance.”
At the time, deep divisions within the state legislature had left governance at a standstill. Twenty-seven members of the House opposed the Governor, while only four supported him, preventing the passage of critical legislation, including the state’s budget. This impasse, compounded by the vandalisation of vital economic assets such as oil pipelines, led to what the Supreme Court later described as the absence of a functioning government in the state.
Tinubu said he was left with no option but to invoke the emergency powers granted under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution. “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he asserted.
The National Assembly swiftly ratified the emergency, which suspended all key elected officials in the state for six months, pending restoration of order.
During his address, President Tinubu acknowledged that the move was controversial and faced legal challenges. Over 40 lawsuits were filed in various courts across Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, contesting the legality of the declaration. However, he maintained that the step was necessary to safeguard public order and democratic stability.
Now, with signs of political reconciliation, the President said the time is right to restore constitutional governance in Rivers State.
“The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from September 18, 2025,” he announced.
In his closing remarks, President Tinubu urged all state governors and legislators across the country to prioritise peace and collaboration to ensure that the dividends of democracy reach the people.
“The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity,” he said.
The lifting of the state of emergency is expected to bring a renewed focus on governance and development in Rivers State, a critical economic hub in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta.
BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE STATEMENT :
STATEHOUSE STATEMENT
STATEMENT BY HIS EXCELLENCY, BOLA AHMED TINUBU, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, ON THE CESSATION OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE
My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.
I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration. The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together. Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised. The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor. The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs. That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, 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 of the State.
It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency. The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.
I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State. I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.
I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration. That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security. Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.
As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level. The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.
I am happy today that, 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 the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. 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 therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.
I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.
I thank you all.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
