The Ad-Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives on Rivers State has summoned the Sole Administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.).
The committee directed Ibas to appear before it for a “comprehensive interactive session” on Thursday, April 17, 2025, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
According to a statement by Reps spokesman Akin Rotimi, the session would provide a platform for members of the committee to deliberate on preliminary reports and developments emerging from Rivers State since the sole administrator assumed office.
The Chairman of the Committee and House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, said, “This engagement is necessary to ascertain the true state of affairs in Rivers State and ensure that the House remains properly guided in the discharge of its oversight responsibilities in the public interest.”
The committee said a formal letter of invitation has been sent and acknowledged by the retired naval chief.
On March 18, 2025, President Bola Tinubu imposed an emergency rule on oil-rich Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara; his deputy Ngozi Odu; and all the members of the House of Assembly for six months.
The president immediately nominated Ibas as administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state for the first six months.
The president relied on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to make the proclamation. The section interprets a state of emergency as a situation of national danger, disaster or terrorist attacks in which a government suspends normal constitutional procedures to regain control.
In about 48 hours, the National Assembly ratified the president’s emergency rule decision despite stiff opposition to the move.
The suspension of Fubara and other democratically elected representatives was expressly rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, and groups including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Rotimi Amaechi, Atedo Peterside, Nasir El-Rufai, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Nigerian Bar Association, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), among others.
The last time a president declared an emergency rule in Nigeria was on May 14, 2013, when Goodluck Jonathan imposed it on the entire northeast insurgent-ridden states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.
