President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State marks the sixth time Nigeria has implemented such a measure since 2004.
According to SaharaReporters’ findings, former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared two states of emergency during his time in office. The first was in Plateau State on May 18, 2004, when he suspended Governor Joshua Dariye and the State House of Assembly for six months due to ethnic clashes. The second was in Ekiti State on October 19, 2006, when he suspended Governor Ayodele Fayose and the State House of Assembly for six months over a political crisis.
Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, three states of emergency were declared without suspending democratic institutions. On May 15, 2013, Jonathan imposed emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states in response to the Boko Haram insurgency, but allowed the governors and assemblies to remain in place.
Tinubu’s decision to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly signals a return to Obasanjo’s more drastic approach to emergency declarations, marking a shift in how Nigeria has handled political crises over the past two decades.
