Rivers administrator cancels job tenders under Fubara, orders refunds
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, (rtd), has cancelled all procurement and tender processes that were carried out by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) during the period of suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
In a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika, Ibas claimed that the decision was in adherence to the Supreme Court judgement upholding the Appeal Court ruling in Suit No. CA/ABJ/CV/133/2024 and in the absence of an Appropriation Law in the State.
Consequently, the Sole Administrator mandated all MDAs that carried out such tender processes for projects in their respective offices to refund such tender fees to the respective contractors immediately, pending the approval of a spending plan by the State, which he said, they shall be notified in due course.
Meantime, mixed reactions have continued to trail the decisions and actions of the Ibas barely two weeks after he resumed duty in the State after President Bola Tinubu declared a State of Emergency in Rivers State and suspended
Governor Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and members of the State Assembly.
Many citizens have criticised Iba’s actions, saying his body language indicates that he is actualizing scripts written by the Abuja-based political merchants.
Last week, Ibas sacked all appointees hired under Fubara’s administration.
Speaking on the development, a political Analyst and former member of the House of Representatives, Ogbonna Nwuke, criticized the decisions and actions of the Sole Administrator, saying he is becoming partisan which he noted, is not good for the assignment the president sent him to do in Rivers State.
READ ALSO: Rivers sole administrator suspends commissioners, other political appointees
Nwuke maintained that Ibas was supposed to stand in the middle and not be partial in his actions.
He warned that his decisions and actions are inimical to the relative peace in the State.
Nwuke, however, urged the president to caution Ibas over his unguided actions, warning that such steps would make it difficult to achieve stability and peace in the state.
Nwuke also condemned the claims of corruption and sponsorship of violence made against Governor Fubara by the former Head of service,alleging that such sponsored allegations may worsen the relative peace in Rivers State.
He also appealed to the President to recall the suspended Governor Fubara, his Deputy, and the State Assembly members, saying “Nigeria cannot be practicing democracy while Rivers State is experiencing military rule.
“Before the president acted and declared the State of Emergency under section 305, he was fed with wrong information but by now, we are confident that the President has received the truth and clear reports about the state as the State is peaceful and he should therefore, restore those he suspended and lift the emergency rule.”
However, the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chibuike Ikenga, disagreed.
“If their main boss who suspended them is under suspension, clearly it entails that they were part of the shenanigans that took place within the period under review, so if the governor has been suspended, they also remain suspended pending any further decision on the return of the governor,” Ikenga said.
“Also, most of the affected persons did not pass through the recommended House of Assembly and hence, they ought to go because the Supreme Court judgment noted that they did not meet the requirements
“So, as a party, we support the decisions and interventions of the Sole Administrator.”
He admitted that there was tension in Rivers State and that the declaration of the State of Emergency was the right thing at the moment.
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