A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), not to inaugurate the newly confirmed chairman and members of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, pending judgment in an ongoing legal dispute.
The presiding judge, Justice Frank Onyiri, gave the directive on Monday after all parties presented and adopted their final written arguments.
The suit was filed by the former commission members appointed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, challenging their removal by the Sole Administrator.
In an earlier ruling from April 2025, the court instructed both parties to maintain the status quo.
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Justice Onyiri adjourned the matter to September 29, 2025, for final judgment.
The claimants—Reverend Goodlife Iduoku Ben, Amadi Christian Echele, Chimenem Wisdom Jerome, and three others—argued that they were lawfully appointed and confirmed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, and had received official letters of appointment.
They claim that documentation of their confirmation was already submitted to the Clerk of the House, reinforcing the legitimacy of their appointments.
In a sworn affidavit by Ben, the group maintains that Ibok-Ete Ibas lacked the legal authority to suspend them or appoint new officials to the commission.
The lawsuit listed the sole administrator, the Accountant General of Rivers State, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, and 11 others as defendants.
Source: Channels TV
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