… President declares state of emergency

… Appoints ex-CNA Ibas as Rivers administrator

… Atiku kicks

President Bola Tinubu has declared a state of emergency in Rivers State following the protracted political crisis in the state.

Tinubu made the proclamation during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy Ngozi Odu; and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months.

The president nominated Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (rtd) as administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state for the first six months.

The president relied on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to make the proclamation. The section 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.

FULL TEXT: Tinubu’s Declaration Of State Of Emergency In Rivers State

On May 14, 2013, then-president Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency for the entire northeast insurgent-ridden states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. A more limited state of emergency had been declared on December 31, 2011, in parts of Yobe, Borno, Plateau and Niger states. This earlier declaration included the temporary shutdown of the international borders in those regions.

For about two months, there seemed to be no end in sight in the protracted feud and power tussle between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; and his estranged ex-political godson Fubara over the control of the political structure in the oil-rich Rivers State.

Pipelines have reportedly exploded in the state as the political tension heightened, with civil servants threatening mass protests against the Martins Amaewhule group in the House of Assembly loyal to Wike.

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 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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Gvernor Chukwuma Soludo threw a challenge to opposition parties in Anambra State on Monday, saying he sees no competent challenger as he seeks re-election in the November 8, 2025 governorship poll.

The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said there is a consensus among Ndi Anambra (the people of the state) that his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has delivered dividends of democracy and should be given another chance in the next election.

Soludo, during a media chat to celebrate his third anniversary, said the people of the South-East state can vote for any party during national elections but are loyal to APGA when it comes to governorship and local government chairmen seats.

He said, “If there is an election, I mean there will be an election, and if I am candidate, I will be on the ballot, and then I ask: who else is running? Which party is fielding a candidate?

“So far, unless the person will come down from somewhere but so far, I have not heard of any.”

The former bank chief said he has gotten calls to run for a second term but his party would take the decision on who becomes the flag bearer.

“The party has to agree to it and give me the platform. For me, I applied for this job intentionally because I felt that’s my way of thanking God for His bountiful blessing to spend the rest of my life to serve, and leave this place better than we met it.

“If my party nominates me and if my employers who are the Anambra people to whom I had applied for this job interview me and graciously renew the tenure, of course, it’s a great honour, and a great privilege to serve,” he said.

Anambra is one of the eight states where governorship elections are held off-season due to litigations and court judgments. Others are Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Osun and Ondo.