Rivers Sole Administrator defies court order, appoints LG Administrators, reconstitutes Boards

Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has approved the appointment of administrators for all 23 Local Government Areas in the state, despite a recent court order reportedly restraining him from doing so.

The decision comes less than 24 hours after the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, through Justice Adam Muhammed, issued an order restraining Ibas from making such appointments.

The order was given on Tuesday in suit no. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, filed by the PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Msirimovu.

In addition to the local government appointments, Ibas also gave approval for the reconstitution of several boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals which he had previously suspended.

The announcement was made public on Wednesday morning through a Special Government Announcement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika.

Although the names of the appointees were not mentioned, the statement confirmed that the appointments are effective immediately.

According to the statement, “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.”

It further added that, “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.”

Just last week, the sole administrator had directed the suspension of all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state with immediate effect.

In a separate move, Ibas also cancelled all ongoing procurement and tender processes carried out by MDAs.

He explained that the cancellation became necessary due to the Supreme Court judgment and the lack of an appropriation law during the period in question.

A previous statement issued by the SSG further revealed that the sole administrator directed all affected MDAs to refund any fees collected during the tender process to the respective contractors without delay.