President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following protracted political crises caused by a power struggle between the suspended governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister.
The crises affected governance and crippled the legislature in the oil-rich state.
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“I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis,” Mr Tinubu said in a nationwide speech in which he declared the state of emergency.
“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,” the president said.
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Tinubu heaps blame on Fubara
One thing that stood out in Mr Tinubu’s speech was that the president blamed Mr Fubara while he stayed silent on Mr Wike’s role in the crises.
He mentioned how Mr Fubara demolished the Rivers House of Assembly Complex on 13 December 2023 and “has, up until now, 14 months after, not rebuilt same.”
Mr Tinubu dwelled extensively on the 28 February 2025 Supreme Court judgement, which tipped the balance of power in favour of Mr Wike and his allies.
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He referenced a portion of the judgement which said the suspended governor chose “to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot”.
He also said that the Supreme Court, in its judgement, read out “a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against Governor Siminalayi Fubara.”
Mr Tinubu also referenced the Supreme Court reinstatement of the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers as legitimate members of the Rivers House of Assembly and quoted the court ruling that said Mr Fubara cannot prevent the lawmakers from taking part in the assembly’s proceedings.
He said the governor had yet to implement the Supreme Court order on the presentation of the 2025 Rivers appropriation bill to the pro-Wike lawmakers.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Fubara attempted to present a budget proposal to the assembly but was rebuffed by the pro-Wike lawmakers. When he visited the assembly quarters to present the budget, he was denied access to the facility.
“Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them,” Mr Tinubu said.
“The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalisation of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them.
“Apart from that both the House and the governor have not been able to work together,” he added.
What PANDEF said of Wike, peace effort in Rivers crises
From the onset, Mr Wike has been a key figure in the Rivers crises. He has been the power behind the Speaker of the Rivers assembly and the 26 other lawmakers.
An influential Niger Delta group, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), a few days ago, accused Mr Wike of stalling the group’s effort to broker peace between the minister and Mr Fubara.
The Chairperson of PANDEF, Godknows Igali, said the group set up a Peace and Reconciliation Committee in October 2024 to address the Rivers crisis.
“While the Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has demonstrated a willingness to engage with this committee, the Honourable Minister has consistently rebuffed all attempts to reach him by opening up at dialogue.
“Given his open hostility and dismissive attitude toward PANDEF, the organisation can no longer subject these esteemed senior Nigerians on a peace mission to such levels of disregard and disrespect,” said Mr Igali, a former Nigerian ambassador to Sweden.
President Tinubu did not mention Mr Wike’s name throughout his declaration of state of emergency speech.
Where the president would have probably mentioned Mr Wike’s name, he preferred to use “contending parties”.
“I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis,” the president said.
The president’s decision to essentially leave out Mr Wike from criticism in the Rivers crisis was highlighted by the Rivers government in its official reaction to the suspension.
READ ALSO: Tinubu declares state of emergency in Rivers, suspends Fubara, deputy
The state’s information commissioner, Warisenibo Johnson, in a statement, questioned why the president suspended Mr Fubara from office but did not suspend Mr Wike as FCT minister despite what he said were the governor’s efforts to implement the Supreme Court ruling and maintain peace in the state.
“Unfortunately, at every turn, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by the minister of FCT, frustrated our efforts, thus making genuine peace and progress difficult,” he said. “That is why it is shocking that Mr President sacked the Governor and left his minister who is the principal actor.”
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