Rivers Emergency Rule: A Tale of Throwing the Baby with the Bathwater

By Awassam Bassey, JP

Since the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the appointment of retired Vice Admiral Ibokete Ekwe Ibas as the Sole Administrator approximately two months ago, there has been an avalanche of condemnations, protests and commentaries not only against the state of emergency but also against the government appointed Sole Administrator.

While the condemnation of the declaration of the emergency might be justified, the same cannot be said of the attacks on the Administrator. The list of those who attended the meeting where the decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State was taken does not indicate that Ibas was at that meeting.

The said meeting was convened by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It took place at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa on the 18th of March, 2025, and according to information in the public domain, those present included the top echelon of the executive and legislative arms of the federal government. The security and law enforcement community was fully represented as well.

President Bola Tinubu was reportedly joined at that meeting by Senate President,  Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Tajudeen Abbas; Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; Deputy Speaker, Honourable Benjamin Kalu; National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS), Adeola Ajayi, and his counterpart at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mohammed Mohammed.

At the time the meeting was convened, the public had no idea what the agenda was until the presidential broadcast that night declaring emergency rule in Rivers State. As soon as that decision was reached, it was then up to President Bola Tinubu to appoint whosoever he wanted to administer Rivers State. On this occasion, the lot fell on the retired Chief of Naval Staff who also served as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana (2021-2023), Vice Admiral Ibokete Ekwe Ibas.

The question is whether Ibas should have turned down the president and declined from performing this national assignment. As a disciplined military gentleman, declining would not be an option.

Vice Admiral Ibas is not an indigene of Rivers State and was never part of the situation that led President Tinubu to determine that a state of emergency was the only way to return sanity to the oil-rich state but when the president reached the decision that Ibas was the best man to hold fort while things were being sorted out, he announced it. I doubt very much that Ibas lobbied to be appointed Sole Administrator of Rivers State and it therefore begs the question why so many people make him a target of their venom.

He is just answering a call to National duty the same way he accepted to serve as Nigeria’s Navy Chief and later, High Commissioner to Ghana when he was so appointed by President Muhammad Buhari.

Anyone old enough would recall that during the General Sani Abacha military junta, social critics and civil society organizations pressured the respected former Military Administrator of the defunct Mid-Western State, former Governor of the old Bendel State, and Minister of Labour and Productivity in the Abacha regime, Samuel Osaigbovu Ogbemudia, to exit the junta and deny it any credibility his presence would lend to the regime. His response was that there were over a hundred other Bendelites (current Edo and Delta states indigenes) eager and ready to take his place if he were to leave his position as Minister of Labour and Productivity, meaning that his resignation would not affect the Abacha junta one way or another.

Clearly, the same would be the case if Vice Admiral Ibo-Ete Ekwe Ibas had turned down his appointment as Sole Administrator; several others would have jumped at the offer. Therefore, the issue here is the federal government’s decision to declare a state of emergency, not the Ibas.

Vice Admiral Ibokete Ibas did not stage a coup d’etat to foist himself on the people of Rivers State as a sole administrator, he was called upon to offer service. A man of his calibre who rose to the highest point of his career in the military as Chief of Naval Staff, will never contemplate disobeying orders from his Commander in Chief, whether he was summoned from retirement to lead troops to Sambisa Forest or to hold brief as the Sole Administrator of a subnational as is the case in Rivers State.

He will vacate Government House Port Harcourt upon the expiration of the six months of the duration of the state of emergency or whenever President Tinubu decides to call off the state of emergency and restore democratic structures. Until then, relevant stakeholders, political actors, civil society in Rivers State and across Nigeria should channel their energies to find ways and means to ensure smooth transition and coexistence when democratic governance is reinstated in the state( and it is a delight to see Governor Fubara announcing that progress is being made in this direction).

All players in the political space should close ranks for peace and development of Rivers State now and when Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the state assembly return to office.

The factors that led the Supreme Court to direct the Accountant General of the Federation to freeze all payments to the state should be resolved. The membership and leadership structure of the State Assembly should be sorted out amicably, preferably behind the cameras so the Assembly will be properly inaugurated to screen political nominees and scrutinize the appropriation bill the governor will present upon restoration of democracy in the state. Mutual friends of parties concerned should help build a working relationship between the governor and the state assembly to make for a smooth governance even before the termination of the state of emergency. Local government elections have to be conducted and elected chairmen and councilors sworn in so that allocations due to the 23 councils are released as obtains in other states.

These steps will ensure a return to a peaceful democratic administration. Fanning the embers of hatred and hauling abuses at the Sole Administrator will tantamount to throwing the baby with the bathwater.

Thankfully, the Senate and House of Representatives have each set up ad-hoc committees to oversee the activities of the Sole Administrator with a view to ensuring transparency and accountability.

Awassam Bassey JP is Developmental and Socio- Political Analyst He writes from Abuja and can be reached via donabas@yahoo.com