President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally ended the six-month state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, announcing that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will return to office from Thursday, September 18, 2025.
In a statement released by the Presidency on Wednesday, Tinubu explained that the emergency—first proclaimed on March 18, 2025—was necessary to halt what he described as the “total paralysis of governance” in the state.
> “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,” he said.
The President recalled that the rift between the governor and 27 lawmakers loyal to the House Speaker had plunged the state into a constitutional crisis, with even the Supreme Court affirming at a point that “there was no government in Rivers State.”
Tinubu noted that his intervention, backed by the National Assembly, suspended the offices of the governor, deputy governor, and Assembly members for six months under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
He also revealed that more than 40 lawsuits had been filed
