The emergency had been proclaimed by Tinubu on 18 March 2025 after what the Presidency described at the time as a breakdown of governance in the oil-producing state.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – President Bola Tinubu has announced the end of the six-month State of Emergency in Rivers State and directed Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Nma Odu and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to resume work on Thursday, 18 September 2025.
He said in a statement issued on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, “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.”
The emergency had been proclaimed by Tinubu on 18 March 2025 after what the Presidency described at the time as a breakdown of governance in the oil-producing state.
In the March broadcast the President said the situation in Rivers had become “deeply disturbing” and ordered that the governor, his deputy and all elected members of the state assembly be suspended “for an initial period of six months.”
The crisis was linked to a bitter power struggle between Governor Fubara and his erstwhile political godfather, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesome Wike.
President Tinubu’s proclamation was sent to the National Assembly and both chambers subsequently approved the emergency declaration at plenary on 20 March 2025, allowing the federal government to assume the administration of the state for the six-month period.
Following the proclamation, Tinubu appointed retired Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd.) as Sole Administrator to run the affairs of Rivers State for the initial six-month period; Mr Ibas was sworn in at the State House and has since operated from the Brick House as the caretaker administrator.
With the six-month window now elapsed, the Presidency said it was satisfied that a measure of calm and the political consensus necessary for governance had returned to the state, hence the directive for elected officials to resume. The governor is expected to retake the reins of government on Thursday when Mr Ibas hands over.