The Federal Government has formally tabled before the Supreme Court its reasons for imposing a state of emergency on Rivers State, citing collapse of governance and attacks on critical national economic infrastructure as key factors.
The government laid its position bare before the apex court on Saturday in response to a suit filed by eleven states mostly controlled by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The plaintiffs alleged that the Federal Government erred in law by imposing emergency rule on Rivers State.
In an affidavit by the Special Assistant to the President and the Federal Ministry of Justice, Taiye Hussain Oloyede, the Federal Government alleged a very serious political crisis in Rivers State which culminated in the declaration of a state of emergency by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on March 15, 2025.
It said critical economic assets of the state, including oil pipelines, became targets of vandalization while militants openly threatened fire and brimstone against those they perceived as enemies of the governor, with the governor not doing anything.
The Federal Government said the state’s crisis reached a point where the suspended Governor Similayi Fubara demolished the state House of Assembly complex.
It said the breakdown of law in the state was such that only four members of the State Assembly were sitting in Fubara’s office.
It said the governor and the lawmakers were trying to outdo one another in a series of suits on the political logjam in the state.
