President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, which has been embroiled in a political crisis since October 2023.
The president made the declaration in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday night. He attributed the development to the unrest in the state, saying several oil pipelines had been blown up by militants.
The President said neither Governor Siminalayi Fubara nor his deputy reached out to him during the disturbing period, and he could not fold his hands to watch the situation get out of hand.“ 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 the 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 president said while the Supreme Court made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy, parties to the crisis did not allow peace to reign.
“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 vandalisation of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course, given stern orders to the security agencies to ensure the safety of the 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 circumstances, 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.”
