A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt has issued a restraining order against the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), preventing him from appointing sole administrators or their equivalents to manage the state’s 23 local government areas. The order was granted by Justice Adamu Turaki Mohammed in response to Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, filed by the PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative, a civic organization led by Courage Msirimovu.
The court’s decision followed a motion ex parte filed on March 28, 2025, in which the applicant sought interim reliefs to stop the respondent and his agents from proceeding with such appointments. After reviewing the motion, Justice Mohammed granted the order and scheduled the substantive case for hearing on April 14, 2025.
This legal development is the latest in the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, which deepened after the tenure of elected local government chairmen expired in June 2023. The chairmen, initially elected during former Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration, claimed a tenure extension approved by 27 lawmakers who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and pledged allegiance to Wike.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara, upon assuming office, dissolved the local government councils and appointed caretaker chairmen, sparking a fierce power struggle between his faction and Wike loyalists. Control of the local councils has since become a major point of contention in the political battle between both sides.
In an attempt to restore local governance, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) held local government elections on October 5, 2024. However, the APC faction loyal to Wike, led by Tony Okocha, challenged the legitimacy of the elections in court. The dispute culminated in a Supreme Court ruling on February 28, 2025, which favored the Wike-backed APC group.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Governor Fubara annulled the appointments resulting from the disputed election and instructed the heads of local council administration to temporarily oversee the councils until new elections could be held. This move was met with strong resistance from the APC and the faction of defected lawmakers led by Martin Amaewhule, who accused Fubara’s administration of undermining constitutional processes and targeting RSIEC officials.
Governor Fubara’s supporters alleged that the Sole Administrator was preparing to unconstitutionally appoint new administrators across the local government areas, prompting the legal challenge that led to the current court injunction. This ruling represents a significant turn in the ongoing political crisis in Rivers State, which remains unresolved despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s declaration of a political state of emergency on March 18.
