President Bola Tinubu’s efforts to secure legislative approval for the state of emergency in Rivers State faced a setback on Wednesday as the House of Representatives was unable to vote on the matter due to low attendance.
Under Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution, any presidential declaration of emergency must be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate within two days. However, at Wednesday’s plenary, fewer than 80 lawmakers were present—far below the 120 members required to form a quorum in the 360-member chamber. As a result, the House could not take a binding decision on the controversial emergency proclamation.
Although Tinubu’s declaration was included in the day’s agenda under messages from the president, the lack of quorum prevented lawmakers from holding an official vote. According to House rules, at least one-third of members must be present for any decision to be legally valid. Consequently, the session was limited to discussing motions and receiving petitions.
Reports suggest that some lawmakers intentionally skipped the session to avoid being associated with what critics describe as “unconstitutional overreach” by the president.
President Tinubu, in a national broadcast on Tuesday evening, had suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the Rivers State House of Assembly for six months. As part of the emergency rule, he appointed retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd.), as the state’s sole administrator.
However, concerns have been raised over the legality of this decision, as the Nigerian Constitution does not grant the president the authority to remove an elected governor.
