President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State marks the sixth time Nigeria has experienced such a measure since 2004.
Checks on the past occurences show that former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared two states of emergency during his tenure — one 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, and another 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 Boko Haram insurgency, but left the governors and assemblies intact.
Tinubu’s decision to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly marks a return to Obasanjo’s more aggressive approach to emergency declarations, underscoring a shift in Nigeria’s political handling of crises over the past two decades.
