President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has turned up the heat in Rivers State, sending soldiers and armed security to take over the Government House in Port Harcourt. Military vans were seen rolling in, packed with tough-looking operatives. This move comes right after Tinubu’s big Tuesday announcement, slapping a state of emergency on Rivers and kicking out Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all the state lawmakers for six months.
In his TV speech, Tinubu said he had no choice but to step in, pointing to the messy politics and security headaches rocking the state. “I’ve thought hard about this Rivers mess, and I’m using the constitution’s Section 305 to declare an emergency starting March 18, 2025,” he said. He’s put retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas in charge as Administrator to calm things down, but Ibas can’t make new laws, just keep the ship steady.
This all boils down to a nasty fight between Fubara and his old boss, Nyesom Wike, now FCT Minister. Since Fubara took over in May 2023, Wike’s been pulling strings from Abuja, but Fubara’s pushed back hard. It got ugly when 27 lawmakers loyal to Wike jumped from PDP to APC in December 2023, tried to impeach Fubara, and then the Assembly building got torched in October. The Supreme Court’s February 28 ruling stirred the pot more, and now Tinubu’s army is in the mix.