By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja
Vice Admiral Ibas (retired) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) on 18th March 2025. He resumed on 20th March 2025.
He started on a good note by working with the civil servants that he met on ground.
To this end he held a meeting with all the top civil servants on 24th March 2025. The said meeting was coordinated by the then Head of Civil Service of Rivers State, Dr. George Nwaeke.
Thereafter, the Sole Administrator seems to have deviated from the expectation that he would work with the said civil servants of Rivers State.
To the contrary, he has started making appointments of new persons from outside the pool of the current civil servants of Rivers State beginning with the appointment of a Secretary to the State Government (SSG) which the Sole Administrator announced on 25th March 2025.
This new trend is both illegal and immoral for the reasons set out below.
- The principle of “sub judice” implies that while a matter is the subject matter of litigation, both parties are supposed to not take further action. In this instance, considering that there is a pending lawsuit (Federal High Court Abuja) against the constitutionality and legality of the appointment of the said Sole Administrator, he ought not to undertake such actions as appointment of officials who are not currently serving as civil servants of Rivers State;
- The principle of guilt of the giver and takers of bribes. In the eyes of the law, it is not only the Sole Administrator who can be regarded as guilty, the persons who accept such appointments from the said Sole Administrator are also guilty.
- The Sole Administrator is a delegate of the President of Nigeria, he lacks the power to make appointments of other delegates. This is the principle known as: “Delegatus non potest delegare,” which translates to “a delegate cannot delegate,” is a Latin legal maxim meaning that a person or entity to whom a power or authority is delegated cannot further delegate that power unless explicitly authorized to do so. Here’s a more detailed explanation:
Core Principle:
The maxim highlights the limits of delegation, emphasizing that the initial delegate (the person or entity receiving the power) cannot pass on that authority to another party without specific permission or authorization. Purpose :
This principle is crucial for maintaining accountability, ensuring that authority remains within defined limits, and preventing the erosion of power through excessive delegation. Application :
It’s a cornerstone of constitutional and administrative law, particularly relevant in legislative, executive, and judicial contexts.”
Moral Principle:
As a general rule, by virtue of the fact that his appointment is of a temporary nature (six months), and one of it’s the original purpose was to reduce the cost of governance that arose because of the face-off between Governor Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly, it logically follows that the Sole Administrator’s appointment of brand new officials would increase the cost of governance.
Furthermore, from a moral point-of-view, there is an African proverb that “it is unbecoming for a visitor who is granted the use of a guest house, to start moving in with a wooden wardrobe and other permanent fixtures such as cooking gas, pots and pans”!!!
The reason is because it implies that the said Sole Administrator (visitor) has no intention of vacating the said guest house (governance of Rivers State) at the expiration of the announced six months!!!
Let me conclude, by using a real life analogy to illustrate this situation.
Ever since, I arrived as an European Union (EU) funded legal consultant here in the Kingdom of Lesotho, I have grown used to hearing the stereotype and discriminatory comments directed at myself and other Nigerians: “Why are you people (Nigerians) always spoiling our citizens by selling drugs and fornicating with our women?”
My reply is simple and straightforward: “First of all not every Nigerian who is resident in this country is involved in the twin crimes of drug peddling and fornication”!!!
Secondly, assuming though not conceding that we are engaged in such activities, drug peddling and fornication can only happen with the consent of certain citizens of the Kingdom, there is no Nigerian that goes around administering hard drugs and fornication at gunpoint”!!!
Similarly, the said Sole Administrator (whose legitimacy is yet to be determined) is not dishing out appointments at gunpoint, it is consenting Rivers State indigenes that are accepting.
It takes two to tango!!!
