The Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND) has made clear what it expects from the new Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retired), saying it expects Ibas to truly reconcile all warring parties in the state.
Ibas took over the governance of the state shortly after he was appointed and sworn in as the sole administrator of the state by President Bola Tinubu who had earlier imposed a state of emergency on the state and further suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu and all members of the state House of Assembly for six months.
Tinubu invoked section 305 of the 1999 constitution as amended while citing unresolved lingering political crisis and attacks on oil pipelines as reasons for proclaiming emergency rule on the state, as he also blamed the suspended governor for failing to stabilize the state.
MOSIEND, through its National President, Comrade Kennedy West told our correspondent that the people of the state would like to see the new sole administrator truly reconcile all warring parties.
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“We do not believe the president has the legal power to impose this magnitude of emergency rule on the state but all we want is true peace at the end of its duration.
“The crisis in the state was purely political, and that would only require a political solution, which was why the litigation approach could not resolve the crisis.
“At the end of this 6-month emergency rule period, we expect to see truly and lasting peace to return to our dear Rivers State.”
Ibas was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant in the Nigerian Navy in 1983 and held various command positions until former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him Chief of Naval Staff in August 2015. He held the position until 2021.
After Vice-admiral Ibas retired from service, ex-President Buhari appointed him the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana. He served between 2021 and 2023.
