A lawsuit challenging Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas’ appointment as Sole Administrator of Rivers State has encountered a temporary setback due to incomplete service of court documents to all parties involved.
Counsel for the plaintiff, Chimezie Enuka, told Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, during the resumed hearing on Thursday that hearing notices were yet to be served on Zamfara and Bauchi states, who are the 8th and 9th defendants in the suit.
Only attorneys general representing Lagos, Bayelsa, Taraba, and Edo appeared in court out of the 36 state attorneys general named in the suit.
Enuka requested more time to serve all defendants, with the assurance to the court that this would be completed by April 13 at the latest. Following this, Justice Omotosho adjourned the proceedings until June 11, as there were no objections from the parties present.
A lawsuit filed by Abuja-based lawyer Johnmary Jideobi, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/572/2025, names President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, Vice Admiral Ibas, and the attorneys general of the 36 states as defendants, seeking to nullify decisions made by Ibas as Sole Administrator of Rivers State due to the alleged unconstitutionality of his appointment.
The plaintiff is also seeking a perpetual injunction to prevent President Tinubu from removing or suspending any governor or deputy governor, including those in Rivers State, and to bar him from appointing sole administrators in any of Nigeria’s 36 states.
The suit raises constitutional questions, particularly around whether the president holds the power to unilaterally remove elected governors or install administrators in their place, outside the provisions laid out in Sections 180, 188, 189, 305, and 306 of the 1999 Constitution.
According to the plaintiff, “A declaration of this Court that the purported suspension of the Governor and the Deputy-Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria by the 1st Defendant on Tuesday the 18th day of March, 2025 is unconstitutional, null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever.”
He also seeks an order nullifying Ibas’s appointment and directing him to vacate the Government House in Port Harcourt.
In a sworn affidavit attached to the suit, Jideobi stated: “As a Nigerian Lawyer and all through my years of practice, I have never seen the word ‘Sole Administrator’ in the amended 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He added, “I know that neither the 1st defendant nor the 2nd defendant appointed the Governor and Deputy-Governor of Rivers State of Nigeria and that no Governor or Deputy Governor in Nigeria is an appointee of the 1st and 2nd Defendants.”
Citing public interest, he emphasized his motivation for the legal action: “I am genuinely worried that, in the absence of the intervention of this Court, removal of duly elected Governors and Deputy-Governors, may become the pastime of the President thereby opening the floodgate of anarchy capable of consuming this nation.”
The case is now scheduled to continue on June 11.
