The Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral lbok Eye Ekwe lbas (rtd), has approved the appointments of sole administrators for the 23 Local Government Areas (LGA) of Rivers state.
He has equally approved the reconstitution of some Boards of Agencies, Commissions, and Paratatals, earlier suspended.
This is contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof Ibibia Lucky Worika.
The statement added that the appointment take effect from Monday, the April 7, 2025.
The development came barely 24 hours when the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt issued an interim order restraining the Sole Administrator from appointing the administrators to govern the 23 LGAs.
Justice Adamu Turaki Mohammed granted the order following an ex parte motion filed by PILEX Centre for Civic Education initiative, led by Courage Msirinmovu .
The organisation challenged the decision to install sole Administrators for a six months period in the local government council’s.
Justice Turaki stated that he found sufficient grounds to prayer sought in the motion, which was filed in March 28, 2025.
The motion specifically requested an interim injunction to prevent the respondent, Vice Admiral lbok Ete Ekwe lbas (rtd) , or his agents, from appointing Sole Administrators, or individuals bearing any similar title, to manage the 23 Local Government Areas.
The applicants also sought any orders deemed necessary by the court.
The court has scheduled a hearing for April 14, 2025.
The legal challenge across after the tenure of the last elected local council chairmen was terminated following a Supreme Court Judgement on February 28, 2025 which declared their action unlawful .
Subsequently, the suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalaye Fubara, directed the former chairmen to hand over administration to the Head of Local Government Administration ( HLGAs), who have been overseeing the 23 LGAs since then.