President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will lift the state of emergency in Rivers State as soon as normalcy is restored, according to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. In an interview with The Nation, Idris reassured Nigerians that the President remains committed to the full restoration of democratic governance in the state.
“As soon as he assesses that sanity has returned to Rivers State, he will ensure the restoration of all democratic structures in that state,” Idris said. He emphasized that Tinubu has no intention of taking over the governance of Rivers or appointing a new governor.
“The President has no intention whatsoever to take over the governance of Rivers State. He has no intention to be or to appoint a governor for Rivers State,” the Minister added.
Idris defended the President's decision to impose the state of emergency, describing it as a "very responsible but very painful" action. He explained that the breakdown of governance in the state, including a non-functional Assembly and a challenged executive branch, left the President with no choice but to intervene.
“The way democracy is designed in this country is that the three arms of government must work together, and one will be checking the other. We cannot have just the executive functioning and say we have a functional democracy. We didn’t have that, and therefore, the President had to act,” Idris stated.
He reiterated that Tinubu's actions were in line with constitutional provisions and aimed at preventing further violence and lawlessness in the state. “Those who designed our constitution envisaged that this kind of situation could arise, and that was why they made the provision for it,” he explained. “The President relied on the constitution to exercise his powers and take action.”
