Sack Ibok- Ete Ibas Now, Court Told
A Federal High Court, Abuja has been asked to throw away the Administrator appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to oversee Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Retd) .
The suit, filed by Johnmary Jideobi, is asking for Ibas’s appointment to be nullified on the basis that it is unconstitutional.
The suit comes after President Bola Tinubu’s recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025. The President suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and state lawmakers for six months due to political instability and pipeline vandalism, appointing Ibas as the administrator of the state for the period.
Jideobi’s suit contends that the President’s action is contrary to the provisions of the constitution, which hold that a democratically elected state governor cannot be removed by presidential fiat.
The suit prays the court to declare the appointment of Ibas null and void and to restrain the President from taking such actions in the future.
The suspensions have also been condemned by the Nigerian Bar Association, which has said that a state of emergency does not give the President the authority to dissolve or suspend elected members.
Concurrently, Edison Ehie, the suspended Governor Fubara’s Chief of Staff, has called on people to discount information on court judgments against Ibas. Ehie explained that no court order has been made yet to bar the Sole Administrator from taking up office.
The case is scheduled to be heard by the Federal High Court in the next couple of days, and its decision will have wide-ranging consequences on the governance of Rivers State under the prevailing state of emergency.
