Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has approved the appointment of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, despite a court order issued just hours earlier.
The approval came less than 24 hours after a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt reportedly issued a restraining order preventing Ibas from appointing administrators to oversee local government affairs. The order was issued by Justice Adam Muhammed on Tuesday in suit no. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, following a case filed by the PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative, led by Courage Msirimovu, against Ibas in his official capacity.
Notwithstanding the court’s order, Ibas also approved the reconstitution of boards for several agencies, commissions, and parastatals that had previously been suspended.
The approval was announced in a Special Government Announcement issued on Wednesday morning by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika. Although the names of the new appointees were not disclosed, the statement confirmed that the appointments are effective immediately.
The announcement 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.”
Additionally, last week, the Sole Administrator suspended all heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the state with immediate effect.
In a separate development, Ibas also cancelled all pending procurement and tender processes initiated by the MDAs, citing the absence of an appropriation law following a recent Supreme Court judgment. He directed that any fees collected for such projects be refunded to the respective contractors immediately, as per a previous statement issued by the SSG.
