The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has approved the appointment of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas in the state.
This decision comes less than 24 hours after a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt reportedly restrained him from making such appointments.
The court order was issued on Tuesday by Justice Adam Muhammed in suit no. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative, led by Courage Msirimovu, against the Sole Administrator in his official capacity.
Despite the court’s position, Ibas also approved the reconstitution of boards of some agencies, commissions, and parastatals that were earlier suspended.
The approvals were announced on Wednesday morning in a Special Government Announcement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika.
Although the names of the new appointees were not disclosed, the statement confirmed that all appointments took effect from Monday, April 7, 2025.
The statement read:
“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.”
This comes after Ibas last week suspended all heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the state with immediate effect.
In a related move, he also cancelled all pending procurement and tender processes carried out by MDAs, citing the absence of an appropriation law and the implications of the Supreme Court’s judgment.
According to a previous statement by the SSG, Ibas has directed that all MDAs involved in such tender processes must refund collected fees to the respective contractors immediately.
