Moves to sack Rivers sole administrator suffers setback in Abuja

A lawsuit aimed at challenging the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) as Sole Administrator of Rivers State has hit a temporary roadblock due to incomplete service of court processes to all listed parties.

At the resumed hearing on Thursday, counsel for the plaintiff, Chimezie Enuka, informed Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that hearing notices had not yet been successfully served on Zamfara and Bauchi states — the 8th and 9th defendants in the suit.

Out of the 36 state attorneys general named in the suit, only those representing Lagos, Bayelsa, Taraba, and Edo appeared in court.

Enuka requested additional time to complete service on all defendants, promising the court that this would be done on or before April 13.

Justice Omotosho, with no objections from the parties present, adjourned proceedings until June 11.

The case, filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/572/2025, lists President Bola Tinubu as the 1st defendant, followed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Vice Admiral Ibas (rtd), and the attorneys general of the 36 states.

Jideobi is urging the court to nullify all decisions made by Ibas in his capacity as Sole Administrator of Rivers State, arguing that such an appointment is unconstitutional.

The plaintiff is also seeking a perpetual injunction to prevent President Tinubu from suspending or removing any sitting governor or deputy governor, including in Rivers State.

He further wants the court to bar the President from appointing sole administrators in any of Nigeria’s 36 states under any circumstances.

The suit raises constitutional questions, particularly around whether the president holds the power to unilaterally remove elected governors or install administrators in their place, outside the provisions laid out in Sections 180, 188, 189, 305, and 306 of the 1999 Constitution.

According to the plaintiff, “A declaration of this Honourable Court that the purported suspension of the Governor and the Deputy-Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria by the 1st Defendant on Tuesday the 18th day of March, 2025 is unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.”

He also seeks an order nullifying Ibas’s appointment and directing him to vacate the Government House in Port Harcourt.

In a sworn affidavit attached to the suit, Jideobi stated: “As a Nigerian Lawyer and all through my years of practice, I have never seen the word ‘Sole Administrator’ in the amended 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

He added, “I know that neither the 1st defendant nor the 2nd defendant appointed the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria and that no Governor or Deputy Governor in Nigeria is an appointee of the 1st and 2nd Defendants.”

Citing public interest, he emphasized his motivation for the legal action: “I am genuinely worried that, in the absence of the intervention of this Court, removal of duly elected Governors and Deputy-Governors, may become the pastime of the President thereby opening the floodgate of anarchy capable of consuming this nation.”

The case is now scheduled to continue on June 11.