President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally lifted the state of emergency in Rivers State, reinstating Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly, effective from midnight, September 17, 2025.
The announcement, made in a nationally televised address from the Presidential Villa in Abuja, brings to an end six months of direct federal intervention in the affairs of the oil-rich state, following what the President described as a “complete breakdown of constitutional governance” earlier this year.
“It gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today,” Tinubu said.
He said, “The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the Deputy Governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly… will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.”
The emergency was declared on March 18, 2025, amid escalating political tensions between the executive and legislative arms of Rivers State. At the heart of the conflict was a deep rift between Governor Fubara and a factionalized House of Assembly, in which 27 lawmakers aligned with Speaker Martins Amaewhule openly opposed the governor, while only four stood in support of him.
In his address, President Tinubu revealed that even the Supreme Court, in one of several judgments on the crisis, affirmed that there was effectively “no government in Rivers State.”
“It became painfully inevitable,” Tinubu said, “that to arrest the drift towards anarchy… I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution.”
Under the emergency provisions, the offices of the governor, deputy governor, and all elected members of the House of Assembly were suspended for an initial period of six months.
According to him, “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.”
