Rivers: Call for Ibas’s probe thickens as emergency rule ends
Following the end of emergency rule in Rivers State as declared by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, there are calls for the probe of the six-month tenure of the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas (retd).
recalls that with the state of emergency lifted, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly officially resumed office yesterday, Thursday.
It could be recalled that President Bola Tinubu on March 18, 2025, declared a state of emergency in the state, thereby suspending the governor, his deputy and all the state lawmakers for six months.
According to President Tinubu, the decision was prompted by a protracted political crisis that had threatened peace and security in the oil-rich state.
The political crisis was birthed by the face-off between Fubara and his predecessor, who is currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, Nyesom Wike.
However, during the period of emergency rule, President Bola Tinubu brokered a truce between Governor Fubara and Wike.
With all the parties finally agreeing to bury the hatchet and all other hurdles crossed and the conduct of the August 30 local government election, Tinubu on Wednesday lifted the emergency rule.
While the State lawmakers resumed plenary on Thursday, Fubara is nowhere to be found as of the time of filing this report.
Controversies surrounding Fubara’s suspension
The suspension of the governor and the declaration of the state of emergency in the state had raised some dust with stakeholders antagonizing the move, saying the president has no power to suspend a democratically elected governor.
Some analysts also believed that the move was contrary to the requirements of Section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended.
The Senate’s approval for the emergency rule also fueled controversy with some stakeholders arguing that the essential requirement of a two-third majority of the 469 legislators of the National Assembly to approve a state of emergency was not followed.
