Ibas Appoints Sole Administrators for 23 Rivers LGAs Despite Pending Suit in FHC

•Restructures RSIEC leadership, reconstitutes parastatals, commissions, others 

•PANDEF, IYC, CLO, others fight back

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

In a move that stunned many, the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibot-Ete Ibas (rtd), yesterday, announced the appointment of Administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas in the state, despite a court order to the contrary.

A Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, had restrained Ibas from making the appointment pending the determination of the matter before it.

Though the approval for the appointment of the LGAs administrators was released in the early hour of April 9, 2025, the decision was said to have taken effect two days earlier, Monday, April 7, 2025.

The court order yet to be granted by the Justice, Adamu Turaki Muhammed, in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, was filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Nsirimovu against the Sole Administrator (Ibok-Ete Ibas) in his official capacity.

The appointments and the list have however led to shocks and outcries in some quarters and jubilation in others.

Feelers from the Siminalayi Fubara camp indicated anger, shock, and disappointment in the hopes for neutrality of the Solad while those in the Nyesom Wike camp were joyful with a sense of triumph.

The State Government House statement signed by Ibibia Worika, the newly appointed secretary to the state government (SSG), stated that the Sole Administrator “has approved the appointments of Administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State.

“Ibas 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.”

The military government in Rivers State has also announced a new board for the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), with Michael Ekpai Odey appointed as Chairman.

The court has, however, fixed to hear the matter on the appointment of sole administrators for April 14, 2025.

Meanwhile, stakeholders have continued to criticised the development.

A Rivers statesman and chieftain of the Pan Niger Delta Elders Forum (PANDEF), Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, said both Ibas and those who appointed him, had no respect for the rule of law.

“They simply believe that they can do anything that serves their interest. He (Ibas) does not have any legal right to be on that seat. His being there is illegal. His actions are illegal. Whatever decision he takes does not have any legal backing,” he said.

Sara-Igbe noted that the sole administrator was sent to the state for an assignment which is to the benefit of those who sent him.

“They have an agenda and the man there is in a hurry to implement that agenda,” he said.

President of PANDEF, Prof Godknows Igali, also disclosed that he has written to the Sole Administrator on the undemocratic steps he has taken in the state so far.

Igali said he has observed “a systematic tearing down of various structures, which are important for the continued building and consolidation of democracy in Rivers State right now taking place under your watch.”

He recalled that during the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the then Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), “was man enough and had the fear of God to tell the then President that even though the parts of the country, i.e., Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe were under foreign invasion, a state of emergency cannot result in pulling down the institutions of democratic governance we are still nurturing after long years of military rule.

“It was therefore difficult for me, despite the fact that you are a man with a good service record and also one of our proud sons, to endorse you. Because your presence in Rivers State is an embarrassing aberration to all men of goodwill and good conscience.”

Similarly, the President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Dr Alaye Theophilus, said since the appointment of Ibas lacked any constitutional backing, “every appointment or laws he makes is automatically illegal.”

Theophilus noted that the whole essence of bringing the retired Vice Admiral was to allegedly grab Rivers State and its resources for the 2027 re-election bid of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“This is a clear sign of power grab by Tinubu, Wike and all those who supported the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State. Tinubu has caused democracy to be insulted in Rivers State because there is no law that gives the sole administrator the power to make any political appointment.

“The situation in Rivers state may force us to seek the declaration of Ijaw Republic because the Nigerian state has failed us. We will alert the international community about our intention so that when we start, nobody will say we are a terrorist group.”

Chairman, south-south zone of Civil liberty organizations (CLO), Karl Chinedu in a statement, said, “We view the appointment of Sole Administrators in the 23 LGAs with mixed feelings. In the first instance, it contravenes the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy, which frowned at appointment of local council leadership.

“On that basis, the appointment raises the issue of constitutionality. Unelected officials appropriate public funds. It is sad development and undermines democratic principles,” he said.