Amid restraint order slammed on the sole administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, rtd from appointing sole administrators of the 23 Local Government Council Areas, he has approved the appointment of the administrators for the council areas.

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CAPITAL POST gathered that a Federal High Court sitting in Portharcourt on Tuesday restrained the Sole Administrator from appointing Council executives.

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The order was issued by Justice Adam Muhammed on Tuesday in suit No. FHC/PH/CS/46/2025 in the case filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education Initiative led by Courage Msirimovu against the Sole Administrator in his official capacity.

Ibas also approved the reconstitution of the board of agencies of State government including the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC which he dissolved upon his assumption as Sole Administrator of Rivers State.

The development was contained in a Special Government Announcement issued on Wednesday morning by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika.

The statement said the appointments take immediate effect.

Mr Okroiyobi Animete was appointed as administrator for Abua/Odual LG, Mr Goodluck M Iheanacho for Ahoada East LG, Mr Promise Jacob for Ahoada West LG, among others.

The statement read, “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.

“He has also approved the reconstitution of some boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals, earlier suspended.

“All appointments take effect from Monday, the 7th of April 2025.”

FULL LIST OF Rivers LG administrators

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The Senate Committee Chairman on Senate Services, Sunday Karimi has descended heavily on his counterpart from Borno State, Ali Ndume, saying he should dissipate energy to solving terrorism in his Senatorial District, rather than criticising President Bola Tinubu on appointments.

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Karimi who represents Kogi West Senatorial District expressed disappointment that Ndume picked holes in Tinubu’s appointments, saying he would have been concerned on his Boko Haram infested Senatorial District looking for how to resolve crisis rather than dissipating energy criticising the President.

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In a statement the lawmaker made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Karimi said, Ndume’s assertion that Tinubu was making lopsided political appointments in favour of his Yoruba ethnic stock cannot be proven.

He said, the information Ndume was giving on a television with regards to appointments made by President Tinubu was out of place for the wrong reasons.

Karimi expressed surprise that Ndume, a former Chief Whip of the 10th Senate, often chose to “play to the gallery” by leaving “real development challenges like the insecurity confronting Nigeria, to promote sentiments.”

The Kogi lawmaker advised Ndume to be concerned about the resurgence of terrorist attacks, recalling that the devastation caused to Nigeria by Boko Haram insurgency, cost the nation “over 50 per cent of its earnings” in recent years in counter-terrorism spending.

In doing so, Karimi urged Ndume to assist the government in finding what he called “local solutions” to the insurgency instead of “constantly projecting” himself as a critic of Tinubu’s government.

“Over 50% of Nigeria’s earnings in the last few years is being spent on fighting insurgency.

“Rather than playing to the gallery and criticising the government, Senator Ndume as a leader of his people should go back home, liaise with his people on solving Boko Haram problems.

“Insecurity has a local solution”, Karimi stated.

Citing his own example, he said that to address banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes in Kogi-West, he had facilitated the building of a military base in Egbe Town, Yagba West Local Government Area, in addition to the provision of other logistics.

“The country has lost a lot of his soldiers and trillions of Naira fighting insurgents in Senator Ndume’s Senatorial District in the last decades.

“In fact, I lost one of the young officers, a captain in the Nigerian Army from my Senatorial District serving in his community three weeks ago.

“Lots of young Nigerians had lost their lives fighting to defend the territorial integrity of our country. Those are more serious and compelling issues threatening our collective existence”, he added.

The Kogi-West lawmaker was reacting to the latest comments made by Ndume when he appeared as a guest on television programme on Monday, alleging that Tinubu had been unfair to other parts of the country in the appointments he made so far.

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Protest has rocked Delta State in the South South, Nigeria as a result of a controversial ward delineation recommended for Warri Federal Constituency by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

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The protesters who are Itsekiri tribe in the State have shutdown a 28,000 crude barrels per day, bpd facility in Warri South – West Local Government Area, of Delta State.

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CAPITAL POST gathered that protest broke out on Tuesday at the facility formerly operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC and recently acquired by Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings. The peaceful protesters comprising men, women and youths, stormed the facility with placards with inscriptions showing their anger over the recommendation by INEC.

According to them, the proposal by INEC, amounts to ethnic cleansing by the Commission and its collaborators.
Checks revealed that that the peaceful protest would spread to other critical oil and gas facilities in Itsekiri land and may result in further drop in the country’s daily crude oil production. The aggrieved Itsekiri people are demanding the withdrawal of the proposal made by INEC as regards ward delineation in Warri Federal Constituency, saying proper delineation, which would take cognisance of the historical and legitimate names of communities in Warri South, Warri South – West and Warri North Local Government Areas, should be carried out by INEC.

It will be recalled that INEC had last Friday, unveiled the proposed delineated wards and polling units in the Warri Federal Constituency, in line with the Supreme Court’s judgment that calls for fresh delineation.

The Itsekiri Nation however rejected the proposed ward delineation in Delta State by the Commission.

At a media briefing on Sunday, the Secretary of Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Mr Amorighoye Mene, dropped the hint of a court action against INEC.

He said, “We expected INEC to consider the voting strength of the various ethnic groups that comprise the area — the Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ijaw, and other mixed-demographic areas — when delineating the wards and polling units.

“At a stakeholders meeting on Friday, INEC unveiled the proposed delineated wards and polling units in the Warri Federal Constituency, in line with the Supreme Court’s judgment that calls for fresh delineation.

“We were not allowed to speak or react at the venue of the unveiling, but we have looked at the report given to us and the entire Itsekiri nation completely condemns and rejects the work done by INEC.”

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