Rivers State Awaits September 18

President Bola Tinubu must keep his word and end emergency rule to restore confidence in democracy.
September 18, 2025, will make it six months since President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the State House of Assembly. The measure, the President said, was to last “in the first instance” for six months, depending on progress in restoring peace.
The declaration was controversial from the start. Many observers argued that the situation in Rivers was a political stalemate rather than a security threat. The conflict centered on the fallout of a Supreme Court ruling on February 28, which upheld the seats of 27 defected lawmakers and directed the governor to recognize them. Relations between the governor and the lawmakers remained frosty, but efforts at reconciliation were ongoing.
Instead of pursuing political dialogue, emergency rule was imposed. Retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, was appointed sole administrator. His first steps went beyond peacekeeping. He dissolved local government councils and state boards, replacing them with appointees widely seen as loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike. Critics viewed this as an attempt to tilt the political balance in the state.
Despite fears of unrest, Rivers has remained largely calm. By June, President Tinubu even brokered peace between Governor Fubara and Wike. That development raised hopes that emergency rule would end with the President’s Democracy Day address on June 12. It did not.
Since then, governance in the state has faltered. Key infrastructure projects, including the Port Harcourt Ring Road, Woji-Aleto-Alesa Road and the Trans-Kalabari Road, have stalled. Urban waste management has deteriorated. Local governments, now run by unelected appointees, are accused of prioritizing the interests of political patrons over citizens. One administrator resigned after alleging that council funds were being diverted to godfathers in Port Harcourt.
The Rivers experience underscores a larger truth: emergency rule is a blunt instrument. It may suspend conflict, but it rarely resolves it. Worse still, it can undermine democratic processes and deepen political mistrust. Democracy is often noisy and untidy, but it provides mechanisms for negotiation, accountability, and compromise that emergency governance cannot replace.
As September 18 approaches, attention is on the federal government. President Tinubu has a chance to restore confidence by keeping to his word and ending emergency rule. Extending it will only fuel suspicions that the intervention was less about peace and more about political control.
Rivers people deserve the return of democratic governance. Nigeria’s democracy, still fragile, cannot afford to normalize emergency rule as a tool of political management. The test on September 18 is not just about Rivers it is about the credibility of democratic institutions in the country.