President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers state has reignited scrutiny of his criticisms of actions carried out by Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former presidents.

Tinubu, on Tuesday, declared a state of emergency in Rivers following the persistent political crisis and instability in the state.

The president also suspended Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers; Ngozi Odu, his deputy; and the members of the state assembly.

He also nominated Ibok-Ete Ibas, a retired vice-admiral, as the state’s administrator. The president said the administrator will manage the state without enacting new laws but may issue regulations subject to federal executive council (FEC) approval and presidential promulgation.

Tinubu said the judicial arm of Rivers state remains unaffected and will continue its constitutional duties.

As a vocal political figure, Tinubu frequently condemned what he viewed as the federal government’s overreach in wielding emergency powers.

TINUBU CONDEMNED OBASANJO FOR IMPOSING EMERGENCY RULE IN PLATEAU

In 2004, Tinubu, then governor of Lagos, fiercely opposed Obasanjo’s imposition of a state of emergency in Plateau state on May 18.

Obasanjo’s declaration followed months of brutal ethno-religious clashes between Christian and Muslim communities in Jos, the state capital, and surrounding areas, leaving over 2,000 dead and displacing thousands.

Obasanjo had suspended Joshua Dariye, the Plateau governor at the time, and the state assembly and appointed Chris Alli, a retired major general, as sole administrator for six months.

Tinubu condemned the move as an assault on Nigeria’s federal structure, arguing that it stripped Plateau of its democratic rights without exhausting dialogue or state-level solutions.

“It is unfortunate and illegal; this has to be discouraged. It is a bad precedent. What the president of the country has done, I pray it doesn’t stand,” Tinubu was quoted to have said in 2004.

TINUBU ACCUSED JONATHAN OF INTIMIDATING GOVERNORS 

In 2013, Tinubu, a leading voice in the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), criticised Jonathan’s state of emergency declaration in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states on May 14.

The measure came as the Boko Haram insurgency intensified, with bombings, abductions, and territorial seizures overwhelming local security forces in the three states.

Though, unlike Obasanjo, Jonathan retained the elected governors — Kashim Shettima, Ibrahim Geidam, and Murtala Nyako — but imposed dusk-to-dawn curfews, deployed heavy military presence, and granted security forces sweeping powers.

Tinubu slammed the decision as an “unpardonable mediocrity” that bypassed constitutional checks, warning that it risked turning the north-east into a militarized zone under federal control.

He said with the declaration, Jonathan had “intimidated and emasculated” the governors, adding that the action had scuttled the constitutional functions of the governors and elected officials in the three states.

“Let all those who love this country genuinely advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates of these governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path to take,” he wrote at the time.

“Hiding under some nebulous claims that border on the intractability of the security challenges posed by Boko Haram or some acclaimed traditionalists who have killed some policemen to render ineffective the constitutional powers vested in elected governors and other representatives of the people, perceived as not amenable to manipulation for the 2015 project, amounts to reducing serious issues bordering on the survival of the country to partisan politics.”

Tinubu’s criticisms were rooted in his advocacy for federalism and autonomy for state governments.

“No governor of a state in Nigeria is the chief security officer. Putting the blame on the governors, who have been effectively emasculated, for the abysmal performance of the government at the centre which controls all these security agencies, smacks of ignorance and mischief,” he said as opposition leader in 2013.

“The president’s pronouncement, which seeks to abridge or has the potential of totally scuttling the constitutional functions of governors and other elected representatives of the people, will be counterproductive in the long run.”

In 2005, Tinubu, as a governor, vowed to defend the “territorial integrity and sovereignty” of Lagos against the tyranny of the federal government. He also accused Jonathan of using the insurgency as a pretext to weaken opposition strongholds in the north, where the APC was gaining traction.

Now, as the president, Tinubu’s emergency declaration in Rivers mirrors the actions he once strongly condemned.

[TheCable]

In the wake of a Supreme Court-triggered crisis in Rivers State —masterminded by Nyesom Wike, whose outsize influence over the judiciary has earned him the fittingly dubious distinction of being the de facto head of Nigeria’s “judiciary” — President Bola Tinubu has, with a stroke of imperial presidential pronouncement, declared a state of emergency and suspended democracy.

In a twist as darkly ironic as it is emblematic, he has chosen to replace elected officials with a retired military officer by the name of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, effectively reviving the tired and dangerous fallacy (actively nurtured and propagated by Nigeria’s past military dictators) that when civilians falter, only soldiers can "restore order."

This move reinforces the infantilization of civilian governance and reduces democracy to something that must be periodically "rescued" by the men in fatigues.

Interestingly, in May 2013, Tinubu himself condemned the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa as a dangerous assault on democracy and a ploy to rig the 2015 election.

“The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events to the unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015,” he said.

Now, with his own state of emergency in Rivers, two years before the 2027 election in which he will seek a second term, the question writes itself: Is this, too, a “display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2027”?

Or do the rules of democracy shift when the emperor changes robes?

One hopes Tinubu has fully considered the ramifications of his decision. He based his suspension of democracy in Rivers on the Supreme Court’s tendentious declaration that “there is no government in Rivers State.”

Well, for the millions of Nigerians already struggling under the weight of his government’s reckless economic policies, “there is no government in Nigeria” right now. Governance, for most, is an abstraction at best and an illusion long shattered at worst.

Should the military intervene to restore governance?

Fellow Nigerians, I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis.

 With the crisis persisting, there is no way democratic governance, which we have all fought and worked for over the years, can thrive in a way that will redound to the benefit of the good people of the state. The state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy.

Also, it is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis. I am also aware that many well-meaning Nigerians, Leaders of thought and Patriotic groups have also intervened at various times with the best of intentions to resolve the matter, but all their efforts were also to no avail. Still, I thank them.

On February 28, 2025, the supreme court, in a judgment in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, based on several grave unconstitutional acts and disregard of rule of law that have been committed by the Governor of Rivers State as shown by the evidence before it pronounced in very clear terms:

“a government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State.”

The above pronouncement came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against the Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Going Forward in their judgment, and having found and held that 27 members of the House who had allegedly defected

“are still valid members of Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of that House by the 8th Respondent (that is, the Governor) in cohorts with four members”

The Supreme Court then made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy. These orders include the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly which up till now has not been facilitated.

Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them.

Apart from that both the House and the governor have not been able to work together.

Both of them do not realise that they are in office to work together for the peace and good governance of the state.

The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.

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, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.

In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.

By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.

In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State. 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.

The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.

This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution. It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

Long live a united, peaceful, secure and democratic Rivers State in particular and the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a whole.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will address the nation today in a nationwide broadcast on the situation in Rivers State.

The NTA and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria will transmit the broadcast at 7 pm.

All TV and radio stations are requested to link up with the broadcast.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President

(Information & Strategy)

The Alaafin-elect, Prince Akeem Owoade, on Tuesday released his official title.

The palace made this known in a statement.

It noted that the Alaafin wants to be addressed as His Imperial Majesty, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, Alaafin of Oyo

“This is to inform the general public that the proper manner of addressing the Alaafin for all activities and in the media is EXACTLY as follows: His Imperial Majesty Iku Baba Yeye Oba Abimbola Akeem Owoade I, Alaafin of Oyo.

“The number after OWOADE is the Roman Numeral One (I), not the English Number One (1),” the statement reads in part.

This follows the commencement of a 21-day traditional rites popularly known as “Oro Opebi”.

On March 7, the Chief of Staff to the monarch, Rotimi Osuntola, in Ibadan, announced that the traditional rites would end on Saturday, March 29, 2025.

[DailyPost]

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revoked the land allocation for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national secretariat in Abuja.

The decision was conveyed in a letter dated March 13, 2025, titled “Notice of Right of Occupancy with File No: MISC 81346 in Respect of Plot No: 243 within Central Area District, Abuja.”

Signed by the Director of Land Administration (FCT), Chijioke Nwankwoeze, the letter cited the PDP’s failure to pay annual ground rents from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025, as the reason for the revocation.

The letter read, “I have been directed to refer to the above Right of Occupancy granted to PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT and inform you that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory has in the exercise of powers conferred on him under the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, revoked your rights, interests and privileges over Plot No. 243 within Central Area, Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja.

“The revocation is in view of your continued contravention of the terms and conditions of grant of the Right of Occupancy by failing to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from Ist of January 2006 to 1st of January 2025. This is despite the many publications made by the FCT Administration since 2023 in several national dailies and on electronic media requesting all allottees of plots in the Federal Capital Territory to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on their property.

“You would please note that the said breaches by PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (MISC 81346) run contrary to the provisions of Section 28, Subsection 5 (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.”

Details shortly…

[TheNation]

The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to probe allegations about Standard Organisation of Nigeria’s reversal of its decision to shut down 18 companies found wanting in the production and distribution of substandard building materials, especially manufacturers of iron rods.

The resolution of the House followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Edo lawmaker, Mr Billy Osawaru.

Osawaru, a member of the All Progressives Congress urged the House to ask SON to do everything possible to eliminate fake products particularly building materials from the Nigerian market and ensure only quality products find their way to markets nationwide.

Osawaru had expressed concern about the incessant occurrence of building collapse in Nigeria, a development he attributed to the use of substandard products, poor regulatory practices and poor construction processes.

Quoting statistics from the Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Osawaru said that Nigeria recorded 47 building collapses across 14 states in 2024, with Lagos State accounting for about 56 per cent of them through 13 incidents, followed by Abuja with 4.37 per cent having recorded six collapse incidents.

He lamented that the use of substandard materials has sent numerous lives to their early grave, adding that at least, three buildings have collapsed in different states since January 2025, leading to several deaths and casualties.

“This is a clear indication that the Standard Organization of Nigeria has not done enough to prevent further occurrences.

“Study has revealed that poor quality of materials and cheap labour contributed about 53 per cent of building collapse in Nigeria with most of them being private residential buildings executed by indigenous companies and locals.

“SON allegedly reversed its decision to shut down 18 companies implicated in the production and distribution of substandard building materials, particularly iron rod manufacturers.

“The reversal, reportedly influenced by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has sparked criticism from different quarters, raising concern over the government’s commitment to enforcing quality standards in the construction industry.

“The alleged defaulted companies responsible for production of substandard building materials especially irons hides under the weak enforcement mechanisms in Nigeria to flood the Nigerian market with inferior products while exporting products of high quality to countries where substandard materials are not tolerated,” he said.

Following the adoption of the motion, the House resolved to investigate the organisation and make useful recommendations on how to tackle the scourge of substandard building materials in the country.

AMIDST the heightening tension in Rivers State, President Bola Tinubu is currently meeting behind closed doors with the Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Also present at the meeting are the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele.

Besides, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon.Tajudeen Abbas, and the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, were also spotted at the Presidential Villa.

It is unclear if the presiding officers of the National Assembly are part of the meeting with security chiefs.

Those in attendance are the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the Directors General of the Department of State Service, DSS, Mr Adeola Ajayi and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Mohammed Mohammed.

Although the agenda of the meeting is not made public at the time of filing this report, it may not be unconnected with the security situation in the country.

Besides, the meeting is coming on the heels of is an explosion that rocked a section of the Trans Niger Pipeline in Bodo Community in Gonna Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The explosion occurred late on Monday night near the Bodo-Bonny Road under construction.

Recall that the youth wing of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, had given the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike a 48-hour to apologize to the Ijaw nation over his recent utterances on the political crisis in Rivers State.

The ultimatum issued to the minister to apologize over his alleged attack on PANDEF and South-South leaders expired on Monday.

Vanguard News Nigeria

• Lagos Gov receives Silverbird Governor of Year Award

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has promised to continue to deliver good governance and dividends of democracy to Lagos residents, saying the Silverbird Governor of the Year Award bestowed on him will motivate him to do more for the people.

Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke on Sunday night after receiving the Silverbird Governor of the Year Award at a ceremony held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island. He received the Award in the company of members of the Lagos State Executive Council and some top government officials.

In his acceptance speech, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who dedicated the Award to the people of Lagos State, vowed to redouble his efforts and continue to deliver good governance and dividends of democracy to the people of Lagos State.

The Governor also praised President Bola Tinubu, saying the visionary leadership and innovative policies by the first Lagos State Governor in the Fourth Republic laid the groundwork for Lagos to become a vibrant and dynamic city.

Governor Sanwo-Olu also described President Tinubu's Renewed Hope agenda as the panacea for the country’s economic recovery.

He said: "This award is a tribute to the hard-working and resilient people of Lagos State who have supported our vision and initiatives. Your unwavering belief is what fuels our commitment to excellence.

"I am grateful to His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor and visionary architect of modern Lagos. His leadership and innovative policies laid the groundwork for our vibrant, dynamic city.

"I remain committed to ensuring that good governance is at the forefront of our administration and delivering the dividends of democracy you deserve.

"Together, we have made significant strides; let us continue to work hand in hand to create a brighter future for every Lagosian."

Governor Sanwo-Olu also appreciated the Silverbird Group for the Governor of the Year Award.

SIGNED

GBOYEGA AKOSILE

SPECIAL ADVISER - MEDIA AND PUBLICITY