Ibas Rejects Rivers Assembly’s Move To Probe Six Months Spending
The immediate past Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has rejected the move by the Rivers State House of Assembly to probe the state’s expenditure over the last few months under the former.
It would be recalled that Ibas was appointed as sole administrator of the oil-rich state by President Bola Tinubu after the suspension of state governor, his deputy and the Assembly members.
The Rivers State House of Assembly, presided over by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, during its first plenary after the end of emergency rule, said it would investigate the state expenditure during the six-month emergency rule.
According to the resolutions of the House, “To explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule with regard to spending from the consolidated revenue fund for the award of contracts and other expenditure.”
Reacting to the House of Assembly’s move to probe expenditure under his tenure, Ibas said the lawmakers lacked the power to investigate him, pointing out that they didn’t appoint him as the Administrator of the State.
Ibas, while answering questions from The Punch reporter through his Senior Special Adviser on Media, Hector Igbikiowubu, on Sunday, said it was understandable that, having been away from the business of legislation for a while, the lawmakers were merely trying to make an effort to discharge their functions.
He, however, described the lawmakers’ resolve as commentary, adding that the attempt to probe the former administrator was tantamount to probing the President, who appointed him, as well as the National Assembly, which supervised the activities of Ibas as the state administrator, as he then was.
According to Igbikiowubu, while nobody can prevent the Assembly from probing what they perceive to be their functions within the state, the attempt to probe the immediate past administrator of the state would be a “fool’s errand.”
“When you say they were going to probe the tenure of the administrator, was it the Assembly that appointed the administrator?
“You see, the point to note is that commentary is free. You can’t stop people from running commentary. The House of Assembly has been on break for a very long time, and you will appreciate that they have not been able to discharge their functions for such a long time,” Igbikiowubu told The PUNCH.
“Now that they have resumed, they have to make an effort to carry out their functions. So, it will seem their right to probe what has gone wrong in the state. Nobody can stop the lawmakers from carrying out a probe of what they perceive to be their functions within the state.
“But like I asked earlier, were they the ones that appointed the administrator? So, if you didn’t appoint the administrator, it goes to reason that you have certain limitations. When you also realise that the administrator was appointed by the President, it goes without reason that the administrator acted for and on behalf of the President.”
He added, “When you also reason that the administrator was supervised by the National Assembly, it goes without reason that when you decide to probe the administrator, you’re invariably saying that you will be probing the administrator and the National Assembly.
“So, I wish them good luck with their plan and their probe. But you and I know that such an enterprise amounts to a fool’s errand.”
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
