Rivers Crisis: Tinubu declares state of emergency, suspends Gov. Fubara as VA Ibas takes over as MILAD

*President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, declares a state of emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria, following the protracted political crisis in the state, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, his Deputy Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months, while nominating Vice-Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd.) as the Military Administrator (MILAD) for six months

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, evening Tuesday, March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria, following the protracted political crisis in the state.

ConsumerConnect reports President Tinubu made this proclamation during a nationwide broadcast Tuesday, immediately suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, his Deputy Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

The Nigerian leader also nominated Vice-Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd.) as a Military Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state for the first six months.

Tinubu is said to have relied on Section 305 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) to make the proclamation on the state of affairs in the South-South state of the West African country.

Constitutional provision on declaration of state of emergency

The section of the Nigerian Constitution interprets a state of emergency as “a situation of national danger, disaster, or terrorist attacks in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.”

A state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety of lives and property.

It is equally noted that for about two months, there seemed to be no end in sight in the protracted feud and power tussle between Barr. Nyesom Wike, Honourable Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and his estranged ex-political godson Governor Fubara over the control of the “political structure” in Rivers State.

The eerie political situation in the state reached a head Monday, March 17 as pipelines reportedly exploded, with civil servants threatening mass protests against the Martins Amaewhule group in the House of Assembly loyal to Wike.

Tinubu, in his national broadcast stated: “The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday (Monday) and today (Tuesday) there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them.

“I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.”

He noted: “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 circumstance, 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.”

The President asserted: “By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.

“In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice-Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State.”

Tinubu further said: “For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.

“The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.”

The President and Commander-in-Chief stated: “This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution.

“It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.”

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