Looming Fubara Return: Move for Emergency Rule Extension Collapses as Ibas Prepares Handover

Suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, and the 32-member House of Assembly may return to office on September 18, 2025, following clear signals from the Presidency that the emergency rule in the state will not be extended.

This development emerged after a closed-door meeting between President Bola Tinubu and the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas (retd), at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday. Sources disclosed that the President directed Ibas to prepare a comprehensive handover report covering his six-month stewardship before the expiration of his 10-day vacation.

The handover notes are expected to detail funds inherited from the suspended government, revenues generated under emergency rule, their sources, expenditures, and the specific projects financed during the period.

The directive appears to have shut down a last-minute push by some influential lawmakers in the National Assembly for a three-month extension of Ibas’ tenure. Proponents of the extension argued it would allow him to complete key projects, including the reconstruction of the demolished House of Assembly Complex, an ongoing workers’ verification exercise, and the installation of sensitive equipment in state institutions. If approved, the extension would have delayed the return of Fubara and other democratic institutions until January 2026.

However, Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike is said to have opposed the plan, insisting that emergency rule must end on September 18. Wike had earlier declared, after voting in the August 30 local government election, that both the governor and the Assembly were ready to return. Two days later, Rivers APC chairman Chief Tony Okocha affirmed that the September 18 date was “sacrosanct.”

A source revealed that President Tinubu expects Ibas to submit his report two days before resuming from vacation, with a likely pronouncement to lift emergency rule on September 18—the exact date marking six months since it was imposed to calm political tensions between Wike and Fubara.

Commenting on the matter, a Port Harcourt-based human rights activist suggested the President’s decision would also have international implications. “Mr. President is expected at the United Nations General Assembly shortly after his vacation. It would only be proper for him to restore democratic institutions in Rivers before facing global civil society and media scrutiny,” the activist said.

Meanwhile, Fubara, currently in London with his family, is expected back in the country soon to resume duties. On his return, he will reportedly receive a list of political appointees, including commissioners, who will make up his new team.