President Bola Tinubu has ended the six-month state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, announcing that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will return to office on Thursday, September 18, 2025.
In a statement released by the Presidency on Wednesday, Tinubu said the emergency, declared on March 18, 2025, was necessary to halt the “total paralysis of governance” that had engulfed the state.
“It gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, his deputy, and members of the House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from September 18, 2025,” Tinubu said.
The President recalled that a prolonged conflict between Governor Fubara and 27 lawmakers loyal to the Speaker had left Rivers without a functioning government. The Supreme Court, in one of its rulings, affirmed that “there was no government in Rivers State.”
Tinubu explained that invoking Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to proclaim the emergency became inevitable to prevent the state from sliding into anarchy. “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 17, 2025,” he stated.
He noted that the intervention, which had the backing of the National Assembly, was aimed at restoring peace and order. Despite more than 40 lawsuits filed to challenge the declaration, Tinubu maintained the move was constitutionally justified. “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he stressed.
Expressing satisfaction with the outcome, Tinubu said intelligence reports indicate a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding” among Rivers’ political stakeholders, paving the way for a return to democratic governance.
“This is a welcome development and a remarkable achievement for us. I do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months initially pronounced,” he added.
Tinubu also urged governors and state assemblies nationwide to maintain harmony between the executive and legislature to ensure Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy.
Since March, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.) had been serving as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State under the emergency rule.
ADEOLA KUNLE
