A group of Nigerian legislative lawyers, under the aegis of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, has given President Bola Tinubu seven days to disclose provisions of the state of emergency proclamation in Rivers State which empowered the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd), to appoint sole administrators for local government areas.

Waploaded reports that Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast on 18 March 2025, declared a state of emergency in Rivers State.

Justifying the decision, the President said he was “greatly disturbed about the political crisis” in the state and accused Governor Sim Fubara of demolishing the State House of Assembly building.

Fubara and his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, were suspended for an initial period of six months. A retired Vice Admiral, Ibas, was appointed as Sole Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state during the emergency period.

About a month after taking the decision,
Tinubu is still under fire from several quarters, with many Nigerians questioning the legality and propriety of the decision.

However, the controversy surrounding the emergency rule heightened after the sole administrator, Ibas, appointed sole administrators for the 23 local government councils in Rivers State, despite a court order which restrained him from taking such action.

Meanwhile, the emergency rule saga in Rivers State has taken a new twist after the lawyers group, ALDRAP, wrote Tinubu, demanding specific provisions of the state of emergency declaration that gave Ibas powers to appoint sole administrators for the local governments.

ALDRAP made the demand in a letter dated 17th April 2025, signed by its Secretary, Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja.

The letter was premised on Section 3 of the State of Emergency (Rivers State) Proclamation, 2025, which stipulated that the sole administrator shall administer Rivers State during the period of emergency in accordance with Regulations issued by President Tinubu.

The letter, addressed to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, is titled, ‘Request for information brought pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 – Request for confirmation of any Regulations enacted by His Excellency Mr. President that empowers the sole administrator of Rivers State to appoint sole administrators of the twenty-three (23) local government area (LGA) councils of Rivers State’.

The lawyers group, in the letter, also announced that their members would boycott all high courts, magistrate courts and customary courts in Rivers LGAs, as well as other institutions of the local councils. The boycott is a protest against the appointment of the LG sole administrators.