ABUJA, Nigeria — Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has defended the controversial declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, insisting that the move was both legal and necessary to ensure that local governments continued to access funds from the federation account.
Speaking during a media parley in Abuja on Monday, August 4, 2025, Wike explained that the emergency rule, declared by President Bola Tinubu following the expiration of the tenure of elected local government (LG) officials, was anchored in law and backed by existing judicial precedent.
Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, stated that it was his legal team that secured a Supreme Court judgment affirming that under exceptional circumstances, emergency rule could override other legal provisions to preserve governance continuity at the grassroots level.
“Because of emergency rule, that judgment was set aside to allow local governments access to funds, and that’s why they appointed sole administrators in the councils,” Wike said.
He argued that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that governors cannot appoint caretaker committees and that in the absence of properly constituted LG administrations, the councils cannot legally receive federal allocations.
The emergency rule, according to Wike, was a temporary but lawful mechanism to circumvent that impasse.
The FCT minister added that President Tinubu relied on the Emergency Powers Act, which was amended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004, to issue emergency regulations allowing the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission to conduct fresh LG elections within 90 days.
“If you don’t do that election now, if the governor comes, the governor will give notice of one year, by the Supreme Court judgment, and when you give notice of one year, you cannot set up a caretaker committee, and you cannot have access to the federation account — what happens to the local government?” he said.
Wike clarified that the Tinubu administration had no intention to prolong the emergency rule, emphasising the need for a prompt electoral process to avoid a governance vacuum at the local level.
Responding to those questioning the legality of the emergency declaration, Wike dismissed the criticism as hollow political grandstanding.
“People say the declaration of emergency was illegal — how many of them have pursued the matter in court till today?” he asked.
“Filing a matter for people to say we have filed a matter does not mean they want to pursue the matter. It’s to play to the gallery.”
In a sharp political aside, Wike also took aim at former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his reported defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
While he offered no specifics, the comment continues a long-standing rivalry between the two politicians, especially following the 2023 general elections and subsequent realignments within the PDP.
