‘Your Plan to Probe Me Is Dead on Arrival’ — Ex-Rivers Sole Administrator Ibok Ibas Fires Back at Rivers Assembly

Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) dismisses Rivers Assembly’s planned probe into emergency rule expenditure, insisting only the President and National Assembly had oversight of his tenure.

A political confrontation is unfolding in Rivers State following the decision of the Rivers State House of Assembly to investigate financial activities carried out under the six-month emergency rule that ended on September 17.

The Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, announced during its first plenary after resumption that it would scrutinize contract awards, revenue utilization, and other expenditures under the watch of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), who served as Sole Administrator during the period.

According to the lawmakers, the probe is intended “to explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule with regard to spending.”

But Ibas, through his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Hector Igbikiowubu, has rejected the move, describing it as a “fool’s errand” and warning the Assembly that they have no legal basis to summon or investigate him.

“Were they the ones that appointed the administrator? If you didn’t appoint the administrator, it goes to reason that you have certain limitations,” Igbikiowubu told journalists on Sunday.

He argued that Ibas was appointed directly by President Bola Tinubu and operated under the supervision of the National Assembly — not the Rivers State Assembly. As such, he maintained, any attempt to probe his administration would amount to challenging both the President and the federal legislature.

“You can’t stop people from running commentary, but their plan is dead on arrival,” he added, dismissing the lawmakers’ resolution as politically motivated and inconsequential.

The looming showdown reflects the wider political tension in Rivers State following the reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the Assembly after months of federal emergency control. Observers believe the outcome of the probe could set a new precedent for the limits of state oversight in situations where federal intervention supersedes local authority.

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