President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has told the Supreme Court that Rivers State had no functioning government when he declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich state on March 18, 2025.
In an affidavit submitted to the apex court, Tinubu said the declaration was necessary to avert an imminent breakdown of law and order, following an “intractable conflict” between the executive and legislative arms of the state government.
“There is a clear and present danger of an imminent breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State,” the President stated in the affidavit, filed jointly with the Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); the Rivers State Administrator, Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas; and the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The President’s position was contained in a counter-affidavit submitted on May 20 in response to a suit filed by Yirabari Israel Nulong, Nengim Ikpoemugh Royal, and Gracious Eyoh-Sifumbukho, who are seeking to nullify the emergency proclamation.
Filed on behalf of the President by Mr. Taiye Hussain Oloyede, Senior Special Assistant to the President (State House) and official of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the document asserts that the decision to declare emergency rule was supported by both chambers of the National Assembly and grounded in the constitutional duty to maintain peace and security.
“I am also aware that, following the said proclamation, the President assumed responsibility for the administration of Rivers State and formally appointed the 3rd Defendant as Sole Administrator to oversee the affairs of the state during the emergency period,” Oloyede said in the affidavit.
He noted that the political crisis in the state had rendered governance impossible, with a wave of lawsuits and violent confrontations crippling the functions of both the executive and legislature.
“As at 18 March 2025, when the 1st Defendant issued the Proclamation, the executive and legislative organs of the Rivers State Government were still mired in conflict and there was no indication that the impasse was about to be resolved,” the affidavit reads.
“Indeed, so intractable was the conflict that it paralysed the organs of government in the state and jeopardised public safety and order.”
Tinubu’s legal team further submitted that the move was not arbitrary, citing earlier Supreme Court precedents that recognised the president’s powers in such extraordinary circumstances.
While the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has opposed the emergency declaration, Oloyede said many constitutional scholars and jurists believe the move was consistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and prevailing case law.
