JUST IN: Ibas rubbishes court order, appoints administrators for 23 Rivers LGs
Ibas rubbishes court order, appoints administrators for 23 Rivers LGs
Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) has approved the appointment of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
This comes less that 24 hours after a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt reportedly restrained him from appointing administrators to oversea the affairs of the local government councils.
Adamu Mohammed, the presiding judge, issued the restraining order on Monday following an ex parte application filed by Pilex Centre for Civic Education Initiative, a civil society organisation (CSO) led by Courage Nsirimovu.
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The sole administrator is the only respondent in the suit.
However, Ibas also approved the constitution of some boards of agencies, commissions and parastatals which he had earlier suspended.
The approval was contained in a Special Government Announcement issued on Wednesday morning by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika.
Though the names of the new appointees were not listed, the statement said the appointments takes immediate effect.
It reads, “His Excellency The Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas CFR, has approved the appointments of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
“He has also approved the reconstitution of some boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals, earlier suspended.
“All appointments take effect from Monday, the 7th of April 2025.”
Recall that last week, the sole administrator had suspended all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the state with immediate effect.
In a separate development, Ibas also cancelled all pending procurement and tender processes carried out by Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the state.
He said the cancellation became necessary following the Supreme Court judgment and the absence of an appropriation law within the period.
The sole administrator according to a previous statement also issued by the SSG, directed all MDAs that carried out such tender processes for projects in their respective offices to refund such fees to the respective contractors immediately.
What you should know
On March 18, President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich state over the political crisis in the state.
He also suspended Siminalayi Fubara, governor of the state; his deputy, Ngozi Odu; and all members of the Rivers assembly for an initial period of six months.
The president appointed Ibas, a retired naval chief, as the state’s sole administrator.
Shortly after his appointment, the Rivers sole administrator suspended all political officeholders appointed by Fubara.
Before the declaration of state of emergency, Fubara had asked elected local government chairpersons in the state to hand over to LGA administrators.
The suspended governor had issued the directive after a supreme court judgment nullified the LGA elections conducted in the state in October 2024.
