President Bola Tinubu has lifted the emergency rule in Rivers State, restoring Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, to office after six months suspension.

In a statement on Wednesday by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, Mr Tinubu also directed suspended members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to return to their legislative duties.

Mr Tinubu, in a nationwide address, recalled that he declared the emergency rule on March 18, 2025, after political paralysis engulfed Rivers State, pitting the governor against 27 members of the assembly loyal to the speaker while only four lawmakers backed Mr Fubara.

He noted that the crisis rendered governance impossible and left critical economic assets such as oil pipelines vulnerable to vandalism.

“The serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the state to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State,” the president said.

According to Mr Tinubu, several interventions by his office and other well-meaning Nigerians failed to broker peace as both sides remained entrenched in their positions. This, he stated, compelled him to invoke Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, suspending the offices of the governor, deputy governor, and assembly members for an initial six-month period.

The president noted that the National Assembly swiftly endorsed his proclamation, and he thanked lawmakers, traditional rulers, and residents of Rivers State for supporting the extraordinary measures.

“I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration,” Mr Tinubu said, adding that some of the cases remained pending.

He maintained that the declaration was a constitutional tool used only to prevent total breakdown of law and order. “It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation,” Mr Tinubu said.

The suspension of the emergency rule meant governance in Rivers will return to its elected leadership. Mr Tinubu, however, urged both the executive and legislative arms in the state to set aside political hostilities and work together in the interest of citizens.

“The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders,” the president added.