By Chesa Chesa
The newly appointed Administrator of Rivers State, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Étè Ibas, was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday for a meeting with President Bola Tinubu,
Ibas, who served as Nigeria’s Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, was a day earlier appointed by Tinubu to administer Rivers State following a declaration of state emergency there.
The emergency rule as proclaimed by Tinubu entailed the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the State House of Assembly for an initial six-month period.
He cited ongoing political instability, constitutional violations, and security threats as reasons for the drastic decision.
As Ibas met Tinubu behinf closed doors, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, addressed State House correspondents, defending the state of emergency in Rivers State, as a statesmanly move necessary to prevent a total breakdown of governance after exhausting all diplomatic efforts.
“I think the President has acted timeously. He has given opportunity to all the parties involved to make amends. Before then, he had assembled them, he had tried to mediate,” Fagbemi said.
He, however, rejected claims that the move was designed to benefit The FCT Minister and Fubara’s predecessor, Nyesom Wike, regarded as an undeen hand in the crisis, saying: “Was Wike the one that asked the State Assembly to be demolished? I don’t see the hand of the Minister of the FCT in what happened.”
He also urged those opposed to the decision to channel it through the National Assembly.
“If the National Assembly feels what the President did was not okay, he will not have two-thirds from the National Assembly. We are expecting that within 48 hours something will come out,” he said.
The Justice Minister added that if the Administrator in charge requests for release of Rivers State local government allocations withheld by the court, he as chief law officer of the nation is favourably disposed to making it happen.
According to him, “to me it will be in order for the release of that fund because the event of the extraordinary situation has brought them out of the normal situation of the things”.
