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Rivers Sole Administrator, Ibas Not Qualified To Attend NEC Meeting – Falana

Published

3 weeks ago

Apr 25, 2025.

Rivers Sole Administrator Attend NEC Meeting

Rivers Sole Administrator, Ibas Not Qualified To Attend NEC Meeting – Falana.
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Renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has condemned the participation of Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, at Thursday’s National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Falana, speaking at the 70th birthday lecture of Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, stressed that the NEC’s composition, as outlined in the Nigerian Constitution and the Central Bank Act, only includes the Vice-President (as Chairman), governors of the 36 states, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He argued that the presence of a sole administrator at the meeting was a “gross violation of the Constitution.”

The prominent rights advocate stated that whoever extended the invitation to Ibas committed a serious breach of the law and urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately caution the Sole Administrator against attending any future meetings of federal executive bodies for which he has no constitutional mandate.

Falana also took issue with a controversial remark reportedly made by Ibas, who, through his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Hector Igbikiowubo, claimed that the emergency rule imposed on Rivers State had granted him “sweeping powers” as Sole Administrator.

Dismissing the claim, Falana insisted that no such powers were granted. “In fact, the gazette explicitly states that the Sole Administrator shall govern Rivers State based on Regulations issued by the President. Since no such Regulations have been issued by President Tinubu, any actions taken so far by the Sole Administrator are illegal, null, and void,” he said.

Rivers Sole Administrator Attend NEC Meeting

He called for the immediate termination of the Sole Administrator’s appointment, stating that his continued stay in office under such unconstitutional grounds undermines the rule of law.