President Bola Tinubu has declared an end to emergency rule in Rivers State, restoring the mandate of the state’s elected officials six months after suspending them amid a deep political crisis.
Tinubu, who announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday, said the measure would lapse at midnight on September 17, clearing the way for Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Nma Odu, and Speaker Martins Amaewhule to resume office on Thursday.
The President invoked Section 305 of the Constitution in March following a breakdown of relations between the executive and legislature, which left the House of Assembly split between rival factions and sparked unrest that threatened oil infrastructure. At the time, Tinubu said the drastic step was necessary to avert “anarchy” in one of Nigeria’s most strategic states.
While acknowledging that his proclamation triggered more than 40 legal challenges across several cities, Tinubu insisted the intervention was justified. “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” he argued.
He credited renewed dialogue among political actors for paving the way for democratic restoration and urged leaders nationwide to draw lessons from Rivers. “The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy,” Tinubu said, warning that such expectations cannot be met in an atmosphere of violence and disorder.
The lifting of the emergency is expected to end months of institutional paralysis in Rivers, though analysts say the durability of the “new understanding” among political stakeholders remains to be tested.
