By Deborah Nnamdi
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has lifted the six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, announcing that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will return to their offices from Thursday, September 18, 2025.
In a statement released by the Presidency on Wednesday, Tinubu said the intervention, first declared on March 18, 2025, was necessary to halt what he described as a breakdown of governance in the state.
“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,” he announced.
The President recalled that the feud between Governor Fubara and 27 lawmakers loyal to the Speaker had paralysed the state government. He cited a Supreme Court ruling which affirmed that “there was no government in Rivers 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,” he explained.
He added that the step, which suspended the governor, deputy governor, and the state assembly, had been endorsed by the National Assembly and was aimed at restoring peace and order.
While acknowledging that over 40 lawsuits were filed to challenge the proclamation, Tinubu defended his decision, insisting: “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.”
The President expressed relief at the outcome, pointing to what he called a new spirit of cooperation among stakeholders in the state.
“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,” he said.
Tinubu further urged governors and assemblies across the country to work in harmony, stressing that such cooperation is crucial to delivering the dividends of democracy.
Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.) has administered the state since the emergency rule took effect in March.
