President Bola Tinubu on Thursday held a meeting with Governor Siminalayi Fubara, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly Martins Amaewhule, and members of the assembly.
The President used the meeting to reconcile the parties whose dispute had earlier prompted the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18.
This meeting also marks the first time Governor Fubara is seen with the President since Tinubu suspended him, his deputy Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers State House of Assembly while imposing emergency rule on the state.
President Tinubu explained that his decision was driven by the inability of the governor and the state assembly to resolve their differences, alongside rising security concerns and other factors in the state.
Another photograph captures the FCT Minister and Governor Fubara walking side by side, followed closely by Speaker Amaewhule and other members of the state assembly.
While neither the presidency nor the participants issued any official statement after the meeting, indications point to the possibility that the state of emergency in oil-rich Rivers State could soon be lifted.
A short video clip from the meeting shows the previously feuding parties in a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere—exchanging smiles, handshakes, and posing for photographs.
At the height of the political impasse between the Fubara and Amaewhule factions, Tinubu, during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State. He suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
Tinubu justified his action under Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, stating that he could no longer stand by as the political tension in Rivers escalated unchecked.
The president subsequently appointed and swore in a retired naval officer, Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd), as the sole administrator for the oil-rich state.
The suspension of Fubara and other elected officials drew swift and widespread condemnation from prominent Nigerians, legal experts, 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, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
For nearly two years, Wike—the immediate past governor of Rivers State—and his former political ally, now adversary, Fubara, have been locked in a fierce battle over control of the state’s political structure.
The Amaewhule faction, loyal to Wike, had even threatened to impeach Fubara over his alleged refusal to implement a Supreme Court ruling related to the state’s political dispute.
