WEDNESDAY April 9, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued an interim order restraining the Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd.), from appointing Sole Administrators to manage the affairs of the 23 local government areas (LGAs) in the state.
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, by Justice Adamu Turaki Muhammed in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, filed by the Pilex Centre for Civic Education Initiative, a civil society organization led by Courage Msirimovu.
In the motion ex parte filed on March 28, 2025, the applicant sought an interim injunction to prevent the respondent, in his official capacity, from appointing individuals—whether termed Sole Administrators or otherwise—to oversee the local councils.
The applicant also requested any other relief the court deemed appropriate.
Justice Muhammed, in granting the application, said the court found sufficient grounds to issue the order and scheduled the matter for hearing on April 14, 2025.
The development comes in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment delivered on February 28, which nullified the elections that brought the last set of local government chairmen into office.
Following the ruling, suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara directed all council chairmen to hand over to the Heads of Local Government Administration (HLGAs), who have since been in charge of the LGAs.
However, since the imposition of a state of emergency in Rivers State and the replacement of the governor with a Sole Administrator, there have been growing concerns about possible appointments of loyalists to take over the councils.
The Pilex Centre’s legal action is widely seen as a move to prevent the concentration of local government control in the hands of individuals loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, who remains in a power tussle with suspended Governor Fubara.
Observers say the Wike camp has benefited significantly from the current political arrangement, and the suit is viewed as an effort to stop further consolidation of power through LGA appointments.
