President Tinubu, left, swearin in Rivers Adminitrator, Ibas

Abubakar Hashim

Never in Nigeria’s history has a President followed all due processes in declaring a state of emergency.

The Supreme Court gave a damning verdict: “ Rivers governance structure has collapsed for closed to two years, in a four-year mandate”

The Legislature, both the Senate and the House of Reps, gave two-thirds approval. The Nigerian Senate has 109 members, and two-thirds, 73, unanimously approved Tinubu’s request.

The House of Reps has 360 members, two-thirds, 243, approved. More importantly, the House of Reps amended Tinubu’s proclamation in three ways:

1. A committee of Rivers Elders to be constituted to profer a viable political solution to the impasse
2. ⁠The House of Reps will oversee the legislative functions of the Rivers State
3. ⁠An immediate return to the status quo even before the expiration of the six months state of emergency

These amendments were unanimously agreed to by all members present ( 243), two-thirds of the house, irrespective of political party affiliation.

This was the beauty of democracy at work!

From Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Baluwa, to Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, who each declared a state of emergency, never has such a democratic process been strictly followed.

Tafawa Balewa declared a state of emergency in the Western Region in the 60’s. Obasanjo did the same in Plateau and Ekiti States in 2003 and 2006 respectively, while Jonathan did it in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in 2013, due to Boko Haram.

It is nonsensical for the same Obasanjo and Jonathan to criticise Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, 2025, after following due processes, a far cry from what both Obasanjo and Jonathan did.

Section 305 of the 1999 constitution is silent on details of a state of emergency. Hence the Supreme Court verdict on “total collapse of governance”, gave President Tinubu the nod, backed by legislative approval, to declare a state of emergency, to prevent an imminent catastrophe in Rivers State, the richest in oil and gas, Nigeria’s life wire.

On Tuesday 18 March, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State. By extension, he suspended the state governor, Simnalayi Fubara, his deputy and all lawmakers.
In his national broadcast, the President said he had received security reports in the last two days of “disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them.”
“With all these and many more, no good and responsible president will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the constitution to address the situation in the state,” added Tinubu.
The president said he had sent a copy of his proclamation to the National Assembly, which can endorse or reject his decision.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate,” said Tinubu