President Bola Tinubu has officially sworn in Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd.) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State.
The appointment was finalized following a brief meeting with the president on Wednesday afternoon.
In a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The president cited Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as his authority to act, emphasizing that he could no longer stand by while the political turmoil in Rivers escalated.
The decision to suspend Fubara and other elected representatives has drawn widespread condemnation from notable figures and groups—including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Nigerian Bar Association—while the pro-Nyesom Wike Assembly, led by Martins Amaewhule, has welcomed the emergency measures, accusing Fubara of defying a Supreme Court ruling on the state’s political crisis.
Ibas, who served as Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021, hails from Cross River, where he also completed his early education.
He began his illustrious career at the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1979 and steadily ascended through the naval ranks.
A respected member of both the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Nigerian Institute of Management, Ibas was honored with the National Honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari, who initially appointed him as Chief of Naval Staff.
