Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers State

By Nnamdi Okosieme

President Bola Tinubu on Tinubu on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency on Rivers State in South South Nigeria.

In a nationwide broadcast, President Tinubu cited the political crisis in the state occasioned by disagreements between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as underlying reason for the imposition of emergency rule for six months in the state.

Relying on the provisions of Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), President Tinubu said with the declaration of emergency rule in the state, Governor Siminalayi Fubara and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly had been suspended from office for the period it lasts.

For months, Governor Fubara and the legislators, 27 of whom had in late 2023 defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) but backtracked, had engaged in a tussle for supremacy with the lawmakers going to court to challenge Governor Fubara’s declaration of their seats vacant in line with Section 68(1g), which holds that a legislator will cease to occuoy office if:

“Being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected; Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored;”

The face-off between Governor Fubara and the legislators believed to be sponsored by Mr. Nyesome Wike, a former Governir of the state and currently, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has ground activities of the state government as each party sought to gain ascendancy over the other.

In his broadcast on Tuesday m President Tinubu indicated as much, noting that he had 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.

The President said with the crisis persisting, there was no way democratic governance, which Nigerians have 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. He said the state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the people of the state unable to access the dividends of democracy.

President Tinubu blamed Governor Fubara for igniting the crisis citing his demolition of the House of Assembly building in December 2023, which he had not been rebuilt. He said despite his intervention on a number of occasions, the issue had remained unresolced as both parties ignored his efforts, they had those of well-meaning Nigerians and leaders of thought.

‘The sins of Fubara’
The President cited a Supreme Court judgment of President February 28, 2025 in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, which held that 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 “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.”

He said the Supreme Court ruling came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against Governor Fubara adding that in its 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”

He added that orders made by the Apex Court to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy including the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly has not been facilitated.

Highlighting more sins of Governor Fubara, President said some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who had up till now not disowned them.
He stated that apart from that, both the House and the governor have not been able to work together as they do not realise that they are in office to work together for the peace and good governance of the state.

President Tinubu said the latest security reports made available to him showed that between Monday and Tuesday, there had been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the Governor taking any action to curtail them. He declared that he had ordered the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.

The President said no 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”,the President said.

To fill the vacuum created by the suspension of Governor Fubara and the lawmakers, President Tinubu appointed Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas, a former Chief of Naval Staff, as Administrator to run the run the affairs of the state. According to the President, the declaration of emergency rule does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which will 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”, the President said.

Atiku,NBA kick

The declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State by President Tinubu has net with strong condemnation from former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

In statement on his X handle moments after the presidential declaration of emergency in the state, Alhaji Abubakar, described the action by the as disgraceful. He said the President’s action reeked of political manipulation and bad faith.

“Anyone paying attention to the unfolding crisis knows that Bola Tinubu has been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers. His blatant refusal — or calculated negligence — in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful.

“Beyond the political scheming in Rivers, the brazen security breaches that led to the condemnable destruction of national infrastructure in the state land squarely on the President’s desk”, tge former Vice President said.

He said President Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent noting that it was an unforgivable failure that under Tinubu’s watch, the Niger Delta has been thrown back into an era of violent unrest and instability — undoing the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua with years of progress being recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations.

“If federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President bears full responsibility. Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and Tinubu’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms”,Alhaji Abubakar said.

Also reacting, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in a statement on Tuesday, described the suspension of Governor Fubara and members of the House of Assembly, as unconstitutional.

In a statement titled, “Suspension or Otherwise Summary Removal of a Democratically Elected Governor and Other Elected Officials is Unconstitutional”, and signed by Mazi Afam Osigwe, its President, the NBA, said the suspension has far-reaching constitutional and democratic implications, particularly in light of the provisions of Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which governs the procedure for the proclamation of a state of emergency and which the President purported to have relied upon.

The NBA said that while Section 305 of the Constitution indeed vests the President with the power to declare a state of emergency, it stipulates strict conditions and procedural safeguards that must be followed to ensure that such extraordinary measures do not infringe on democratic governance and fundamental human rights.

The NBA noted in the statement:

“The NBA is gravely concerned about the purported suspension by the President of the Governor of Rivers State, the Deputy Governor, and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months.
The 1999 Constitution does not grant the President the power to remove an elected governor, deputy governor, or members of a state’s legislature under the guise of a state of emergency. Rather, the Constitution provides clear procedures for the removal of a governor and deputy governor as per Section 188. Similarly, the removal of members of the House of Assembly and dissolution of parliament is governed by constitutional provisions and electoral laws, none of which appear to have been adhered to in the present circumstances.

The body said a declaration of emergency does not automatically dissolve or suspend elected state governments. It added that the Constitution does not empower the President to unilaterally remove or replace elected officials as such actions amount to an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a fundamental breach of Nigeria’s federal structure.

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“STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS: “SUSPENSION” OR OTHERWISE SUMMARY REMOVAL OF A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNOR AND OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL”

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has taken due notice of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as contained in his address to the nation today, 18th March 2025. This declaration according to the President is due to the prevailing political tension in the state and due to the “vandalization of pipelines between yesterday and today:” This development has far-reaching constitutional and democratic implications, particularly in light of the provisions of Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which governs the procedure for the proclamation of a state of emergency and which the President purported to have relied upon.

Section 305 of the Constitution indeed vests the President with the power to declare a state of emergency, the Section stipulates strict conditions and procedural safeguards that must be followed to ensure that such extraordinary measures do not infringe on democratic governance and fundamental human rights.

The NBA is gravely concerned about the purported suspension by the President of the Governor of Rivers State, the Deputy Governor, and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months.
The 1999 Constitution does not grant the President the power to remove an elected governor, deputy governor, or members of a state’s legislature under the guise of a state of emergency. Rather, the Constitution provides clear procedures for the removal of a governor and deputy governor as per Section 188. Similarly, the removal of members of the House of Assembly and dissolution of parliament is governed by constitutional provisions and electoral laws, none of which appear to have been adhered to in the present circumstances.

A declaration of emergency does not automatically dissolve or suspend elected state governments. The Constitution does not empower the President to unilaterally remove or replace elected officials—such actions amount to an unconstitutional usurpation of power and a fundamental breach of Nigeria’s federal structure.

The NBA averred that the situation in Rivers State, though politically tense, does not meet the constitutional threshold for the removal of elected officials noting that for emergency rule to be declared, Section 305(3) of the Constitution outlines specific conditions, including:
1. War or external aggression against Nigeria.
2. Imminent danger of invasion or war
3. A breakdown of public order and safety to such an extent that ordinary legal measures are insufficient.
4. A clear danger to Nigeria’s existence.
5. Occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity affecting a state or a part of it.
6. Such other public danger that constitutes a threat to the Federation.

The NBA wondered whether the political crisis in Rivers State has reached the level of a complete breakdown of law and order warranting the removal of the Governor and his administration. It said political disagreements, legislative conflicts, or executive-legislative tensions do not constitute a justification for emergency rule as such conflicts should be resolved through legal and constitutional mechanisms, including the judiciary, rather than executive fiat.

“The purported removal of Governor Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly is therefore unconstitutional, unlawful, and a dangerous affront to our nation’s democracy.
Furthermore, subsection (2) of Section 305 provides that:
“A Proclamation issued by the President under this section shall cease to have effect—
(a) if it is not approved by a resolution of the National Assembly within two days when the National Assembly is in session; or
(b) if the National Assembly is not in session, within ten days after it reconvenes”, the NBA said.

It added that the provisions outline above provide that a state of emergency declared by the President does not assume automatic validity requiring legislative ratification within a defined timeframe to remain in effect.

The NBA, emphasized that unless the National Assembly duly approves the proclamation, the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State remains constitutionally inchoate and ineffective.

“In light of the foregoing, the Nigerian Bar Association:
• Affirms that the President does not have the constitutional power to remove an elected governor under a state of emergency. Any such action is an unconstitutional encroachment on democratic governance and the autonomy of state governments.
• Calls on the National Assembly to reject any unconstitutional attempt to ratify the removal of the Rivers State Governor and other elected officials. The approval of a state of emergency must be based on strict constitutional grounds, not political expediency.
• Warns that suspending elected officials under emergency rule sets a dangerous precedent that undermines democracy and could be misused to unseat elected governments in the future.
• Demands that all actions taken in Rivers State strictly conform to constitutional provisions and Nigeria’s democratic norms.
• Encourages all stakeholders, including the judiciary, civil society, and the international community, to closely monitor the situation in Rivers State to prevent unconstitutional governance and abuse of power”, the statement said.

While pledging its coommitment to upholding the Nigerian constitution, defending democratic governance, and ensuring that the rule of law prevails in Nigeria, the NBA said a state of emergency is an extraordinary measure that must be invoked strictly within constitutional limits. The removal of elected officials under the pretext of emergency rule, itbsaid, is unconstitutional and unacceptable.

“We call on all relevant authorities to act in accordance with the law and the best interest of the country. Nigeria’s democracy must be protected at all costs, and the Constitution must be upheld as the supreme legal authority in all circumstances”, the statement said.

See full text of President Tinubu’s broadcast

Fellow Nigerians, 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.

With the crisis persisting, 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 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 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.

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.

Long live a united, peaceful, secure and democratic Rivers State in particular and the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a whole.