Port Harcourt, March 24, 2025 | Nigeria’s political waters grew murkier today as Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential hopeful, fired a salvo at President Bola Tinubu’s administration. At 2:00 PM WAT, his voice cut through the noise: releasing Rivers State’s withheld federal allocations to a sole administrator flouts a Supreme Court order, and it’s shaking trust in the rule of law. The move, confirmed Friday by Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), the state’s new overseer, has sparked a firestorm, with Obi calling it “unlawful” and a “direct challenge” to judicial authority. For a country already wrestling with Rivers’ emergency rule, it’s a fresh wound on a tender bruise.
The roots run deep. On February 28, the Supreme Court barred the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Accountant General of the Federation, and other agencies from releasing Rivers’ funds, citing the state’s “flagrant disobedience” to prior court orders tied to its budget chaos. That ruling held firm until last Tuesday, March 18, when Tinubu declared a six-month state of emergency, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Ngozi Odu, and the entire Rivers Assembly over a festering political crisis. Enter Ibas, sworn in Wednesday as sole administrator, who told local government heads in Port Harcourt Friday that the cash tap was back on. Obi’s not having it. “The court said no funds without a valid Appropriation Act from a proper Assembly,” he stressed in a Monday statement, per Daily Post Nigeria. “This is a dangerous precedent.”
He’s not alone in the uproar. TheCable reported Obi’s charge that this bypasses constitutional norms, while Channels Television noted broader outrage from figures like Atiku Abubakar and the Nigerian Bar Association, who’ve slammed the emergency as an overreach. Pulse Nigeria captured Ibas confirming the release, a move the Presidency defends as vital to avert economic collapse think oil pipeline threats flagged by Tinubu aide Bayo Onanuga Sunday. Yet Obi’s take bites harder: “It’s not just illegal, it questions what’s really happening in Rivers.” X posts mirror the split some at 11:15 WAT back his “aberration” call, others argue emergencies trump court delays.
Rivers’ saga is a tangle of power and petrodollars. The Fubara-Wike feud budget freezes, Assembly lockouts pushed Tinubu to act, citing Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution. Wike’s camp, led by Martins Amaewhule, cheered the emergency rule Wednesday, per Naija News, claiming Fubara flouted the same court. But Obi, alongside critics like Femi Falana, sees a bigger rot. “The judiciary’s being trampled,” he warned, a sentiment echoing Soyinka’s Sunday cry against Tinubu’s “centralization on steroids,” as reported by The Guardian Nigeria. For locals like Emeka, a Port Harcourt driver, it’s simpler: “Who’s running this state now? We’re lost.”
The cash matters. Rivers pumps Nigeria’s oil heart, and its allocations billions monthly, keep it beating. Ibas, a Niger Delta son, pledged stability Thursday, per Daily Post, with 10,000 NSCDC troops now guarding pipes. Tinubu’s team says it’s about survival Onanuga’s “Imagine Rivers Without Emergency” piece Sunday warned of militant sabotage. Yet Obi’s not buying the excuse. “Law must stand above chaos,” he insisted, per TheCable, pointing to a Supreme Court still silent since Friday’s release news broke. X users at 11:43 WAT call it “rule of law trampled,” while others shrug: “Emergency needs cash, not courts.”
Tonight, the stakes loom large. Obi’s salvo joins a chorus PDP, LP, legal eagles all questioning Tinubu’s play. The Presidency holds firm, but cracks show: SERAP’s lawsuit Thursday, per Web ID 0, and lawyers threatening court action signal a fight ahead. For Rivers’ 5 million souls, it’s not just funds, it’s faith in a system teetering. “We’re pawns in their game,” Emeka sighed. As Ibas settles in and Obi rallies dissent, Nigeria watches: will law bend, or break? One thing’s clear this oil-rich drama’s far from over.