Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara returned quietly to the state on Friday evening, ending a nearly two-week overseas trip amid continued uncertainty surrounding his suspension from office and the deepening political impasse in the oil-rich region.
Fubara arrived at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, shortly after 7 p.m., where he was met by a small retinue of aides. A brief video of his arrival showed the governor stepping into a waiting SUV that immediately departed the tarmac, offering no public comment or interaction with press—a silence that mirrors the uneasy calm that has gripped the state’s political establishment.
His return comes at a time of significant turbulence in Rivers State, which in recent months has become a flashpoint in Nigeria’s broader political and constitutional tensions.
In March, President Bola Tinubu announced the suspension of Governor Fubara, his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, and the entire Rivers State House of Assembly following what the Presidency described as a “breakdown of constitutional order.” Citing escalating violence, including attacks on vital oil infrastructure allegedly linked to militant factions, the President declared a state of emergency in the state—a move that drew sharp criticism from legal scholars and political observers who questioned its constitutionality.
The suspension, unprecedented in the post-1999 democratic era, was seen by many as an extreme intervention, rooted as much in political rivalry as in security concerns. At the center of the crisis is a bitter and protracted feud between Governor Fubara and a bloc of 27 state lawmakers loyal to his predecessor and political patron-turned-rival, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
The fallout from that feud has roiled the state since late 2023, when the State Assembly, dominated by Wike loyalists, initiated impeachment proceedings against Fubara, accusing him of gross misconduct. What followed were months of acrimony, a splintered legislature, and scenes of chaos within the state capital—culminating in the federal government’s intervention.
Observers have drawn comparisons between the Rivers crisis and previous state-level flashpoints that tested Nigeria’s federal architecture, such as the 2006 emergency rule in Plateau State. However, the Fubara saga is unique in that it involves not only a dramatic breakdown of state governance but also a high-stakes proxy war between two influential power blocs within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to which Fubara nominally belongs.
It remains unclear whether Governor Fubara’s return signals a resumption of duties, or if it marks a new chapter in an already volatile standoff. As of Friday night, there had been no official statement from the Rivers State Government or the Presidency regarding the terms—or legality—of his reappearance on state soil.
What is certain, however, is that Rivers State remains on a political knife-edge, with constitutional questions unresolved, governance in limbo, and the broader implications for Nigeria’s democracy still unfolding.
