PORT HARCOURT — Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), has defended his decision to appoint administrators for the state’s 23 local government areas, citing the urgent need to strengthen grassroots governance.
Speaking at the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt on Friday during a meeting with the newly appointed officials, Ibas said the appointments followed his personal assessment of the councils. He revealed that visits to several local government areas exposed administrative gaps and underscored the necessity of additional support.
“Since resuming this assignment, I have taken time to visit a few local government areas,” Ibas stated. “Those visits allowed me to interact with local government civil servants, and it became clear that I needed help administering the entire state, especially in areas under the emergency proclamation from Mr President.”
