President Bola Tinubu will address Nigerians today (Tuesday) in a nationwide broadcast on the situation in Rivers State, his presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said.

“The NTA and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria will transmit the broadcast at 7 pm.

“All TV and radio stations are requested to link up with the broadcast,” Onanuga said.

There seems to be no end in sight in the protracted feud and power tussle between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike; and his estranged ex-political godson Governor Siminalayi Fubara over the control of the political structure in the oil-rich state.

On March 12, 2025, pro-Wike lawmakers denied the governor access to the Assembly Quarters when he showed up to re-present the 2025 Budget of the state, as mandated by the House after the Supreme Court verdict of February 28, 2025.

The governor said he communicated his visit to Amaewhule but the Assembly said it received no correspondence to the effect.

Just as the drama unfolded in the South-South state on Wednesday, Wike, at a media parley in Abuja, said there is nothing wrong if the lawmakers decide to sack Fubara for alleged impeachable offences including withholding their salaries for months.

Pro-Wike lawmakers subsequently served misconduct notice on the governor and adjourned indefinitely.

Pipelines have reportedly exploded in the state as the political tension heightened, with civil servants threatening mass protests against the Martins Amaewhule group in the House of Assembly loyal to Wike.

There have been rumoured talks of the possibility of a state of emergency being declared in Rivers State.

Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution interprets a state of emergency as a situation of national danger or disaster in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.

A state of emergency allows the President to immediately make any desired regulations to secure public order and safety.