President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally ended the six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, restoring Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Nma Odu, and suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to their offices as of September 18, 2025. The emergency rule was declared on March 18, 2025, after a bitter political standoff between the governor and lawmakers paralysed governance — budget proposals were stalled, and oil infrastructure faced increasing vandalism.
Tinubu invoked Section 305 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution to suspend the governor, deputy governor, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly. He justified the emergency as a necessary step to “arrest the drift toward anarchy,” citing breakdowns in public order and safety, as well as repeated disruptions in government work. Tinubu also revealed that over 40 lawsuits were filed in various courts—Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa—challenging both the declaration and the suspension of democratic institutions.
Some of those cases are still pending. In declaring the emergency over, Tinubu noted that intelligence reports show there is now a “groundswell of a new spirit of understanding” among political stakeholders in Rivers. He used the moment to warn governors and lawmakers in all 36 states to avoid political hostilities, emphasizing that democracy thrives only where there is harmony between the executive and legislative arms of government. —If you like, I can also draft a shorter “bullet-point summary” version or a version formatted for social media.
