Rivers State: “This Authoritarian Shenanigan is Unacceptable” – PDP Governors Knock Tinubu

PDP Governors have berated Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers.

Epe Insights had reported earlier that the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, south-south Nigeria.

The President announced this in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday evening, March 18, 2025, citing the political crisis and instability in the state as the reason for his decision.

President Tinubu said the governor of the State, Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and all members of the Rivers assembly are “hereby suspended for an initial period of six months”.

“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,”  President Tinubu said.

In the broadcast, President Tinubu announced the appointment of retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, a former chief of naval staff, as the administrator of Rivers State.

According to the broadcast, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas will be responsible for overseeing the affairs of Rivers State for at least six months.

President Tinubu said the administrator will manage the state without enacting new laws but may issue regulations subject to federal executive council approval and presidential promulgation.

The President said the judicial arm of Rivers state remains unaffected and will continue its constitutional duties.

He said his intervention, published in the federal gazette and shared with the national assembly, seeks to restore peace and order in the troubled state.

“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 said in a televised broadcast.

Reacting in a statement issued on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Bala Mohammed, governor of Bauchi and chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, said the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers is an “utter misgiving”.

The chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum said Tinubu’s “silence on the active role played” by Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), in the political crisis in Rivers was “golden and enabling”.

“He (Wike) has become a law unto himself because he was playing out your script. Now we know. This is totally unstatemanly, biased, and divisive,” the statement reads.

“We state categorically that this unwarranted but premeditated attack on Rivers State and the Peoples Democratic Party and other opposition parties is today, the greatest threat to democracy in our dear country, Nigeria and it is an ill wind that will blow no one any good.

“It is a dangerous course of action that will not only endanger our hard-won democracy but will exacerbate the crises in the nation, deepen mistrust, elevate security threats, destroy the economy, and our national cohesion and stability.

“The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in its response signed by its President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has already expressed grave concern about the purported suspension by the President of the Governor of Rivers State, the Deputy Governor, and the Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

“The NBA affirmed their commitment to upholding the Constitution, defending democratic governance, and ensuring that the rule of law prevails in Nigeria.

“President is therefore called upon to listen to wise counsel and the voice of reason, as well as accept that he made grievous mistakes and acted in haste, and reverse this atrocious and retrograde decision before it is too late.

“This authoritarian shenanigan is unacceptable and cannot stand.”

The chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum said the forum aligns with the NBA and would approach the court to interpret section 305 (3) of the constitution.