A Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Fun-ororo Narebor, has said Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s tenure will end on May 29, 2027, unless a court ruled otherwise.
Narebor said the argument that the six months Fubara spent out of office during the 2025 State of Emergency should be added to his tenure was not automatic and needed judicial validation.
In a legal opinion posted on his Facebook page, he cited Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution, which provides a four-year tenure from the date a governor takes the oath of office. Fubara was sworn in on May 29, 2023.
“The constitutional clock does not automatically stop because of a State of Emergency,” he said.
He noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had fixed February 6, 2027 for the Rivers governorship election, which he said was consistent with Section 178(2).
Narebor acknowledged a legal argument for excluding the suspension period. Its proponents said Section 305, which provides for emergency powers, does not expressly authorise the suspension of an elected governor. They therefore contend that the suspension was unconstitutional and the period should be restored to his tenure.
Narebor said the argument alone could not confer an extra six months. He said Fubara would have to seek declaratory reliefs from the Federal High Court that the suspension was unconstitutional, and an order that his tenure be computed without the suspension, ending on November 29, 2027.
He cited Supreme Court decisions in Peter Obi v. INEC (2007), Ladoja v. INEC (2007) and Marwa v. Nyako (2012). He said they support the principle that a guaranteed tenure cannot be unlawfully cut short, but that applying it to Rivers would require a court ruling.
“Without such judicial pronouncement, any attempt to remain in office beyond May 29, 2027 will be unconstitutional and will create a constitutional crisis,” he said.