The House of Representatives has voted in support of the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

In a move that has split Nigerians and has continued to attract severe criticism,  President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in Rivers and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months following the political crisis that had rocked the state.

But two days after Tinubu’s declaration, the House of Representatives in a voice vote backed the President, giving a seal of approval to his decision. Their support came following a letter from the president.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, 240 lawmakers attended the session on Thursday in Abuja.

The National Assembly comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives, have plans to employ voice vote of ‘yea’ and ‘nay’ to validate or otherwise the emergency rule declaration on Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

Quoting an undisclosed source during a live discussion on The Morning Show on Arise News Television, one of the presenters, Rufai Oseni, said that the National Assembly has decided to use voice vote where voters will not be known contrary to the provision of the constitution of the country, which stipulates two-third of votes before the President’s emergency declaration can have the backing of the law.

Analyzing the numbers, the presenters comprising Reuben Abati, Ayo Mairo-Ese and Rufai Oseni, noted that while the the House of Representatives requires at least 270 Affirmative votes for the motion, the Senate needs at least 73 affi4mative votes.

They further reasoned that the ruling All Progressives Congress does not have the number, and would require the help of the opposition to achieve the validation.

However, Abati called on the opposition to defend the Nigerian constitution by rejecting the President’s pronouncement.

Recall that following political crises that have rocked Rivers State in the last 18 months, Tinubu, after taking instructions from the Attorney General, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, declared a state of emergency, sacking the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and other elected officers of the state. The move has raised condemnation from well meaning Nigerians as individuals and corporate entities.

The National Assembly is expected to debate the matter this Thursday as the 48 hours window provided by the constitution elapses today, just Nigerians demand a live broadcast of the proceedings so that every citizen will be carried along.

Source: The Boss Newspaper

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi, on Wednesday, cleared the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, of all wrong doings in the Rivers State crises, fingering the suspended Governor of the state, Siminalayi Fubara, for being solely responsible for the imbroglio that has led to a declaration of State of Emergency.

At a media chat with State House correspondent in Abuja, the AGF said President Bola Tinubu acted timely with his proclamation of emergency rule in Rivers State, the suspension of the governor, and the appointment of a sole administration, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd).

Fagbemi said Fubara demolished the State House of Assembly Complex to avoid being impeached and refused to rebuild it more than one year later, and blamed the governor for failing to implement the February 28, 2025 ruling of the Supreme Court as well not cautioning militants, who had threatened to blow pipelines in the state. “There was not a word dissuading the militant who issued the threats,” he said.

He said the situation could not have been allowed to continue as the critical economic lifeline of the nation was criminally touched.

Fagbemi said Wike did not feature in the matter that was decided by the Supreme Court and should not be sentimentally brought into it, noting that the emergency rule declaration was some sort of saving grace for Fubara who had been served impeachment notice by pro-Wike lawmakers.

“If that impeachment had been allowed to take its full course, the governor would have entirely lost and completely.

“So, in a way, instead of allowing the impeachment to continue, and which in the end would have seen both the governor and the deputy governor out of office for the entirety of their four-year term with the remainder of what they have — a balance of two years and two months,” the AGF said.

Fagbemi said Wike should not be brought into the matter as he was not responsible for the actions of Fubara who failed to act in line with the constitutional requirements of getting the approval of the state legislators in the affairs of the state.

He said, “There are occasions when it comes to national issues, we have to come out plainly and sincerely. Where do you put the Minister of the FCT in this case? Was he the one who asked for the demolition of the House of Assembly?

“Was he the one who said the governor should not present the budget to the House of Assembly? Was he the one who advised the governor not to go through the House of Assembly for purposes of ratifying the commissioner-nominees?

“I don’t know because if you want to look at a case, you look at the facts that have been presented. The Supreme Court made these critical findings. The FCT minister did not feature.

“Assuming he featured, he would have featured on the side of the legislators but what you have here is let everybody go home for the first six months. So, I don’t see his hands here in what we have.”

Fagbemi advised all those who do not agree with the president’s move to channel their energy to the National Assembly to veto the president’s decision.

Wike, who is the immediate-past governor of Rivers State, has been locked in a protracted power tussle with Fubara, his estranged political godson, for about two years. The apex court recently backed the pro-Wike Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule.

The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives has been expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.

However, the emergency rule has been praised by the pro-Nyesom Wike suspended lawmakers, who accused Fubara of contravening the Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.