The political crisis in Rivers State has continued to generate heated reactions as Niger Delta rights activist Ann-Kio Briggs demands that Governor Siminalayi Fubara must immediately reverse all appointments, contracts, and administrative decisions made under Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the former sole administrator appointed during the federal government’s controversial intervention in the state.
The crisis traces back to March 2025, when President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers following a standoff between Governor Fubara and a faction of the State House of Assembly. During that period, retired naval officer Ibas was appointed to oversee the state’s affairs for six months, a move widely condemned as unconstitutional and politically motivated.
Briggs, reacting in an exclusive interview on Symfoni TV, said Ibas’s tenure amounted to “a six-month era of illegal governance” and that all his actions must be undone to restore legitimacy and democratic integrity to Rivers State.
“You can’t bring somebody to drive my car for me when I didn’t employ him,” she said. “Rivers people did not elect Ibas, and yet he was given the keys to our state. That period must be reversed, and every decision made in our name without our consent must be undone.”
The veteran activist and environmentalist described Ibas’s tenure as a “quasi-military regime”, accusing him of acting without constitutional backing while receiving and spending public funds. She called for a full audit of all allocations, internally generated revenue, and expenditures during the period, insisting that Rivers people have a right to transparency.
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“If I leave my house for you and give you ₦200,000, when I return you must account for it,” she said. “Ibas must tell Rivers people what he met, what he spent, and what he left behind. He governed with our money, not his.”
Briggs further condemned what she termed the federal government’s overreach, saying that imposing an unelected administrator on a state that had a sitting, duly elected governor was “an assault on democracy and the Nigerian Constitution.”
“The hunger for control from the center is nothing but greed. Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, and Akwa Ibom are the backbone of Nigeria’s oil wealth. The center should not be dictating to us. It is the center that should come begging us, not the other way round,” she said.
On the current political landscape, Briggs urged Governor Fubara to resist pressure from political actors attempting to influence his appointments, warning that succumbing to such demands could weaken his authority and independence.
“If the governor is being pressured to appoint people he doesn’t want, that is wrong. He must make his own choices, not ones imposed on him through political manipulation.”
She also criticized the defections within the Rivers State House of Assembly, arguing that lawmakers who switched parties after elections betrayed the trust of their constituents.
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“When a lawmaker or governor defects from the party that produced them, they should automatically lose their seat. You can’t betray our trust and still claim to represent us,” she asserted.
Briggs concluded that Rivers people will not forget the humiliation and illegality they endured during the state’s federal takeover, emphasizing that reversing every decision, contract, and appointment made under Ibas is the only way to restore public confidence.
“Governor Fubara must reclaim what belongs to Rivers people. That is the only way to restore legitimacy and dignity to our democracy,” she declared.
