A group of eminent indigenes across 22 local government areas outside Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, under the aegis of Oyo G22 Renewed, has lamented what it described as decades of marginalisation in the governance of the state.

The group, in an open letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, and the national and state chairmen of the All Progressives Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, and African Democratic Congress, decried what it called a “historic and intolerable imbalance and insensitivity being perpetrated in Oyo State as far as the governorship slot is concerned.”

Among those who signed the letter were Prof. Wande Abimbola, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Prof. Sulaiman Gbadegesin, Dr. Adesokan Ojebode, Prof. Nurain Tanimowo, Mr. Dokun Alagbe, Dr Akin Onigbinde and retired General Kunle Togun.

Since 1983, the group pointed out, Ibadan had produced Omololu Olunloyo, Kolapo Ishola, Lamidi Adesina, Rashidi Ladoja, Abiola Ajimobi, and the incumbent Makinde as governors.

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They therefore called on all political parties in the state to ensure that their 2027 governorship candidates emerge from the non-Ibadan zones of Ogbomoso, Oyo, Ibarapa, and Oke-Ogun.

They noted that the only non-Ibadan indigene to emerge governor was the late Adebayo Alao-Akala from Ogbomoso, who governed between May 2007 and May 2011.

The letter read, “A cursory look at the pattern of governorship candidates and elections in other South-West states has revealed that, contrary to the winner-takes-all situation in Oyo State, no particular zone has been dominating the political landscape of their respective states.

“All told, the voting pattern in Oyo State has consistently shown that only 30 per cent of the voting population in Ibadan are Ibadan indigenes. The implication of this is that the remaining 70 per cent belong to the other zones of the state as well as non-indigenes of Oyo State.”

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They urged Ibadan indigenes to abandon what they termed an uncompromising posture and, in the interest of “justice, peaceful co-existence, equity, and fairness,” ensure that candidates from the 22 LGAs outside Ibadan produce the next governor.

“We, on behalf of the 22 local government areas outside Ibadan in the state, are determined to make the following changes: that all political parties in the state should support this peaceful and legitimate demand of the remaining four zones in the state by ensuring that their respective parties nominate governorship candidates from among the 22 local government areas for the 2027 general election.

“That you prevail on your political platform to make this a reality and a realisable objective in the interest of all.

“While we are not oblivious of the fact that you belong to different political platforms, apart from our current interest in rotating the governorship seat in Oyo State, as a neutral body, we wish every platform success in the forthcoming general election in 2027.

“However, we would be earnestly delighted to give our unflinching support to those who support this, our only aspiration.

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“In thanking you for giving thoughts to this, our humble consideration, we are confident that your intervention, as the leaders of your various platforms, would soften the hearts of our Ibadan co-compatriots on this vexed issue,” the letter read.

Citing examples from neighbouring states, the group further argued that governors of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States were typically not indigenes of the state capitals, unlike in Oyo, where Ibadan has largely dominated the governorship.

“For instance, since the creation of Ondo, Osun, and Ekiti States, apart from rotating the governorship slot, no indigene of the state capitals—Akure, Osogbo, and Ado-Ekiti—has been elected governor of these three states. The citizens of the state capital have always ensured that the governor comes from outside the state capital. In Ogun State, the slot oscillates between the Egbas and the Ijebus.

“Even at the federal level, if the North had weaponised its famed voting population, no Southerner would have emerged as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is where the seeming uncompromising posture of Ibadan becomes an issue,” the letter read.

My Fellow countrymen and, in particular, the good people of Rivers State.

I am happy to address you today on the state of emergency declaration in Rivers State. You will recall that on 18th March, 2025, I proclaimed a state of emergency in the state. In my proclamation address, I highlighted the reasons for the declaration. The summary of it for context is that there was a total paralysis of governance in Rivers State, which had led to the Governor of Rivers State and the House of Assembly being unable to work together. Critical economic assets of the State, including oil pipelines, were being vandalised.

The State House of Assembly was crisis-ridden, such that members of the House were divided into two groups. Four members worked with the Governor, while 27 members opposed the Governor. The latter group supported the Speaker. As a result, the Governor could not present any Appropriation Bill to the House, to enable him to access funds to run Rivers State’s affairs.

That serious constitutional impasse brought governance in the State to a standstill. Even the Supreme Court, in one of its judgments in a series of cases filed by the Executive and the Legislative arms of Rivers State against each other, held that there was no government in Rivers State. My intervention and that of other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the conflict proved abortive as both sides stuck rigidly to their positions to the detriment of peace and development of the State.

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It therefore became painfully inevitable that to arrest the drift towards anarchy in Rivers State, I was obligated to invoke the powers conferred on me by Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to proclaim the state of emergency. The Offices of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and elected members of the State House of Assembly were suspended for six months in the first instance. The six months expire today, September 17th, 2025.

I thank the National Assembly, which, after critically evaluating the justification for the proclamation, took steps immediately, as required by the Constitution, to approve the declaration in the interest of peace and order in Rivers State. I also thank our traditional rulers and the good people of Rivers State for their support from the date of the declaration of the state of emergency until now.

I am not unaware that there were a few voices of dissent against the proclamation, which led to their instituting over 40 cases in the courts in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Yenagoa, to invalidate the declaration. That is the way it should be in a democratic setting. Some cases are still pending in the courts as of today. But what needs to be said is that the power to declare a state of emergency is an inbuilt constitutional tool to address situations of actual or threatened breakdown of public order and public safety, which require extraordinary measures to return the State to peace, order and security.

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Considered objectively, we had reached that situation of total breakdown of public order and public safety in Rivers State, as shown in the judgment of the Supreme Court on the disputes between the Executive and the Legislative arm of Rivers State. It would have been a colossal failure on my part as President not to have made that proclamation.

As a stakeholder in democratic governance, I believe that the need for a harmonious existence and relationship between the executive and the legislature is key to a successful government, whether at the state or national level.

The people who voted us into power expect to reap the fruits of democracy. However, that expectation will remain unrealizable in an atmosphere of violence, anarchy, and insecurity borne by misguided political activism and Machiavellian manipulations among the stakeholders.

I am happy today that, from the intelligence available to me, there is a groundswell of a new spirit of understanding, a robust readiness, and potent enthusiasm on the part of all the stakeholders in Rivers State for an immediate return to democratic governance. This is undoubtedly a welcome development for me and a remarkable achievement for us. I therefore do not see why the state of emergency should exist a day longer than the six months I had pronounced at the beginning of it.

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It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025.

I take this opportunity to remind the Governors and the Houses of Assembly of all the States of our country to continue to appreciate that it is only in an atmosphere of peace, order, and good government that we can deliver the dividends of democracy to our people. I implore all of you to let this realisation drive your actions at all times.

I thank you all.

Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

President Bola Tinubu has announced the end of the six-month state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, declaring that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the State House of Assembly will return to office from Thursday, September 18, 2025.

Tinubu in a statement released on Wednesday by the Presidency, said the state of emergency, first proclaimed on March 18, 2025, was necessary to arrest the “total paralysis of governance” that had gripped Rivers at the time.

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He recalled that a bitter conflict between the governor and 27 lawmakers loyal to the House Speaker had left the state without a functioning government, with the Supreme Court even affirming in one of its rulings that “there was no government in Rivers State.”

“It therefore gives me great pleasure to declare that the emergency in Rivers State of Nigeria shall end with effect from midnight today. The Governor, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara, the deputy governor, Her Excellency Ngozi Nma Odu, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly and the speaker, Martins Amaewhule, will resume work in their offices from 18 September 2025,” he said.

More details later…