Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), on Friday announced that the emergency mandate assigned to him by President Bola Tinubu in March had been “sufficiently achieved” with the successful conduct of local government elections and the swearing-in of elected officials across the state.
Ibas made the claim in Port-Harcourt while receiving the comprehensive report of the polls from the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
“Mr President’s mandate to me was clear: stabilise the state, re-establish its institutions, and return Rivers State to full democratic governance. With the successful conduct and inauguration of local government councils, we have decisively delivered on that mandate,” the retired Naval Chief said.
He insisted that the elections, held barely six months after Tinubu imposed a controversial state of emergency in Rivers, were peaceful and credible.
“For once, an election was conducted where nobody was harassed, where people freely made their choice of leaders,” Ibas said, praising RSIEC for what he described as a transparent process.
The Administrator promised that the government would review the RSIEC report and issue a white paper, while also thanking security agencies and state officials for their cooperation.
RSIEC Chairman, Mike Odey, described the polls as a “historic achievement,” boasting that no electoral body in Nigeria had ever organised and concluded an entire election cycle within 30 days.
“In Nigeria’s electoral history, no institution at national or sub-national level has organised and concluded an entire electoral process within 30 days. With modesty, I state this as an unprecedented record,” Odey said.
He also thanked the Administrator for “adequate and sufficient” funding, noting that the commission engaged political parties, civil society groups and security agencies throughout the exercise.
The development comes months after Tinubu declared an unpopular six-month state of emergency in Rivers on March 18, suspending Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the State House of Assembly, citing a deepening political crisis between Fubara and his estranged godfather, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike.
