President Bola Tinubu has concluded plans to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State, Peoples Gazette can report. 

The president’s plan was concluded overnight and the action would be announced in short order, two presidency sources familiar with the matter told The Gazette Tuesday morning. 

The rare political edict came as violence rages between Nyesom Wike and Governor Simi Fubara, whom the FCT minister has been trying to topple from power amid protracted political feud. 

A presidential spokesperson declined comment about the decision. Messrs Wike and Fubara did not return The Gazette’s request for comment. 

A retired military chief Ekwe Ibas has been identified by the president to take charge in Rivers, which is at the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry.  

A state of emergency was declared in 2013 by then-President Goodluck Jonathan in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe in a last-ditch effort to end the onslaught of the rampaging Boko Haram insurgents.

On Tuesday, Mr Tinubu had convened an emergency meeting with service chiefs after suspected militants blew up the country’s foremost trans-Niger pipeline at Bodo in Gokana LGA.

Present at the meeting at the Aso Villa in Abuja were the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa; Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; and the Director General of the State Security Service, Oluwatosin Ajayi, following the pipeline explosion on Monday.

The feud between the former Rivers governor and the incumbent had begun shortly after Mr Fubara assumed office over who controls the reins of power and the resources of the oil-rich state. In the fight for the soul of Rivers, 27 state lawmakers loyal to the FCT minister defected to the All Progressives Congress from the Peoples Democratic Party and began an impeachment process against Mr Fubara, which was later withdrawn amid Mr Tinubu’s intervention to resolve the impasse.

During that time, the parliament complex was set alight, and a lawsuit was filed against the pro-Wike loyalists, with the Fubara government urging the court to declare their seats vacant. For several months, the Rivers governor ran the state with only four members loyal to him and presented the state’s 2025 appropriation bill to them, which the Supreme Court had since declared unconstitutional.

On February 28, the apex court delivered two of three judgments that favoured the loyalists of Mr Wike, refusing to immediately rule on the third matter that might give the governor an edge per the vacancy of the seats of the lawmakers who defected from PDP to APC.

The apex court reserved a ruling on appeals that could give Mr Fubara political mileage in his state, leaving him politically vulnerable after two strings of losses to his adversaries. The last judgment, which could have favoured Mr Fubara because of the affidavit and oath sworn to by the rebellious lawmakers announcing their defection from PDP to APC, was sidestepped for judgment at a later date. 

The delay in judgment opened a loophole for the lawmakers to impeach Mr Fubara when they reconvened, following the court’s order reinstating Martin Amaewhule as the speaker of the Rivers parliament.

Mr Wike, the FCT Minister and a strong ally to Mr Tinubu was among the politicians who paved the way for the president’s 2023 election victory. The minister is the only opposition figure serving on the president’s cabinet.

On March 3, the Rivers assembly wrote to Mr Fubara urging him to present a fresh 2025 appropriation bill within 48 hours. By the Supreme Court’s directive, the N1.1 trillion appropriation bill presented by a rival speaker, Victor Oko-Jumbo, to the governor for assent in January was also nullified.

On March 6, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide warned Mr Tinubu about the potential descent into chaos in Rivers.

Recently, the Niger Delta Rescue Movement, a militant group, had threatened to attack oil installations in protest against the withholding of Rivers’ federal allocation. The group also issued a warning to non-indigenes in Rivers, urging them to leave for safety reasons, claiming that hostilities are imminent.

On March 17, the Rivers assembly again began moves to impeach Mr Fubara and Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu by issuing a notice of alleged gross misconduct against them, citing “reckless and unconstitutional expenditure of public funds contrary to Sections 120, 121 (1), (2) and 122 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”

The impeachment notice was the latest impasse between Mr Fubara and the pro-Wike lawmakers, coming days after Mr Fubara sent a letter to the lawmakers indicating his readiness to present a fresh appropriation bill. During his first attempt to present the budget, Mr Fubara and his entourage, including some of his commissioners, were allegedly locked out of the assembly quarters in Port Harcourt.

The crisis came to a head with an explosion near the Bodo-Bonny Road, which is under construction, affecting the country’s major liquid hydrocarbon delivery channel, transporting about 180,000 barrels of crude per day to the Bonny Export Terminal.

Shortly after Mr Tinubu’s Tuesday meeting with the heads of national security, another explosion rocked a pipeline manifold on the Omwawriwa axis of the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni LGA.

No group has claimed responsibility yet for the explosions.

On March 6, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide warned Mr Tinubu about the potential descent into chaos in Rivers.

“If the federal government must recognise that if Rivers descends into chaos due to this easily resolvable political crisis, it will be a direct blow to their ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ as championed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the IYC had said in a statement. “Such a situation would not only undermine the administration’s credibility but also constitute a grave assault on democracy. To prevent insecurity in Rivers, the conscience of the people must be reconsidered to avert a potential breakdown of law and order.”

Recently too, the Niger Delta Rescue Movement, a militant group, had threatened to attack oil installations in protest against the withholding of Rivers’ federal allocation. The group also issued a warning to non-indigenes in Rivers, urging them to leave for safety reasons, claiming that hostilities are imminent.

Mr Ekwe, the man to run Rivers after the declaration of state of emergency in the oil-rich state, is a native of Nko in Cross River. He was Nigeria’s 22nd Chief of Naval Staff between 2015 and 2021. He served in the Nigerian Navy from 1979 to 2021, when he retired. He was born on September 27, 1960.