President Bola Tinubu has named a former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ibokette Ibas, an administrator for Rivers State.
The appointment was made after the President declared a state of emergency in the state and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu, and the state lawmakers for six months.
Tinubu made the declaration on Tuesday during a national broadcast.
“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.
“In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (retd.) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State.
“For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate,” he said.
Tinubu said the decision was taken to restore stability in the state that has been witnessing political turmoil as a result of the disagreement between the state governor and the state lawmakers.
Read the profile of Admiral Ibokette Ibas HERE
Meanwhile, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in a press release said the declaration “reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.”
The statement reads:
My response on the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers
The declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State reeks of political manipulation and outright bad faith.
Anyone paying attention to the unfolding crisis knows that Bola Tinubu has been a vested partisan actor in the political turmoil engulfing Rivers. His blatant refusal — or calculated negligence — in preventing this escalation is nothing short of disgraceful.
Beyond the political scheming in Rivers, the brazen security breaches that led to the condemnable destruction of national infrastructure in the state land squarely on the President’s desk.
Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent.
It is an unforgivable failure that under Tinubu’s watch, the Niger Delta has been thrown back into an era of violent unrest and instability — undoing the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. Years of progress have been recklessly erased in pursuit of selfish political calculations.
If federal infrastructure in Rivers has been compromised, the President bears full responsibility. Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and Tinubu’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms.
Atiku Abubakar
Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007
Abuja
18 March, 2025.
