The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has approved the appointment of administrators for all the 23 local government areas in the state.

This move comes less than 24 hours after a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt reportedly issued an order restraining him from making such appointments. The interim injunction was granted on Tuesday by Justice Adam Muhammed in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025, filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative, led by Courage Msirimovu.

In addition to that effect, Ibas also went ahead to reconstitute boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals that had earlier been suspended despite the court order.

This announcements was made in a Special Government Announcement issued on Wednesday morning by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika. Despite the fact that the names of the appointees were not disclosed, the statement stated that the appointments take immediate effect from Monday, April 7, 2025.

“His Excellency, the Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas CFR, has approved the appointments of administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State,” the statement read. “He has also approved the reconstitution of some boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals earlier suspended. All appointments take effect from Monday, April 7, 2025.”

This development follows a wave of actions by the Sole Administrator, including the suspension of all heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) last week.

In a separate decision, Ibas also nullified all pending procurement and tender processes carried out by MDAs, citing the absence of an appropriation law and the recent Supreme Court judgment. A previous statement from the SSG directed affected MDAs to refund any fees collected from contractors as part of these processes.