Indications that peace may have been found to the protracted political crisis in Rivers State have emerged as President Bola Tinubu on Thursday reportedly met with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Martins Amaewhule and members of the assembly.
Sundry reports of the meeting showed that the President reconciled the parties whose dispute led to the declaration of a state of emergency in the state on March 18.
The meeting also marks the first time Governor Fubara will be seen meeting with the President who suspended him, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers Assembly while declaring the emergency rule in the state.
President Tinubu had anchored his declaration of a state of emergency on the inability of the governor and the state Assembly to find ways to work together and the security situation in the state, among other things.
Photos from Thursday’s meeting, however, paint a picture of a breakthrough in efforts to resolve the prolonged political crisis in Rivers with one photo showing the President with the governor and minister all smiling.
Another photo shows the FCT Minister and the governor walking side by side with the Speaker and other state lawmakers following them.
Though the presidency and the parties which met with the president on Thursday night did not make any comment on the meeting, there are strong indications that the state of emergency imposed on oil-rich Rivers State might be edging towards an end.
All photos so far seen of the reported meeting showed the parties that have been at loggerheads, trading allegations and insults for months, in a more friendly and jovial mood, marked by handshakes, smiles and relaxed mood.
At the height of the political crisis between Fubara and Amaewhule camps, Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, imposed a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his deputy; as well as the Rivers State House of Assembly members for six months in the first instance.
Tinubu hinged his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he can’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.
The president immediately appointed and swore in a retired naval chief, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), as the sole administration for the oil-rich Niger Delta state.
The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives was expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Atedo Peterside, Nasir El-Rufai, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.
For two years, Wike, the immediate-past governor of Rivers State, and his estranged ex-political godson Fubara have locked horns over the control of the political structure in the state.
The Amaewhule camp loyal to Wike had threatened to impeach Fubara over his alleged failure to implement a Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.
The last time a president declared an emergency rule in Nigeria was on May 14, 2013, when Goodluck Jonathan imposed it on the entire northeast insurgent-ridden states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.
Credit: Story based on Channels TV report and other sources
