The National Patriotic Coalition, NPC, on Wednesday urged President Bola Tinubu to caution the Sole Administrator in Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Rtd), over alleged excesses in the discharge of his duties.
There are reports that Ibas, who was appointed on March 18, 2025 following the declaration of the State of Emergency in the state and the suspension of Governor Sim Fubara, has been making moves to probe the governor's administration.
Despite a ruling by the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt stopping the appointment of administrators to oversee the affairs of the local governments in the state, .
Speaking on some of the alleged excesses of the Sole Administrator at a press conference on Wednesday, Declan Ihekaire and Akintunde Adedeji, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, said the deliberate action of Ibas is “inimical to the sustenance of our democracy”.
The coalition urged Ibas to take advantage of the 11-man Committee set up by the House of the Representatives to oversee legislative duties in Rivers state, “if he has any axe to grind and not resort to underhanded tactics and undemocratic means”.
“Rather than work towards alleviating the difficulties and ameliorating the social challenges of the people of Rivers State, what Ibas has engaged in so far is alienating certain groups which he perceived are not good enough, creating sectional differences, clannish and political divisiveness, creating schism and orchestrating and fanning the ambers of social and ethnical division and segregation.
“Mr President will be failing in his obligation if he does not act swiftly to tame the tide of overzealously, clannish bickering, divisiveness, and power drunkenness demonstrated by the Rivers State Sole Administrator.
“If the Administrator was in any doubt concerning his terms of reference or confused about how to go about accommodating the onerous duties of leading a State, what he should have done was to call for advice or, better still, throw up a resignation.
“We call on Mr President to expeditiously call the Sole Administrator of Rivers State to order and compel him to stop this probe thing as it goes beyond his script,” NPC said.
