A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has issued an order to the Sole Administrator, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas.
The court barred him from inaugurating the newly confirmed chairman and members of the Rivers State Services Commission, pending the judgment of the court in a pending suit.
Justice Frank Onyiri issued the order after all parties adopted their final written addresses in a suit filed by the Chairman and members of the Rivers State Services Commission appointed by suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The claimants are challenging their suspension by the sole administrator.
Justice Onyiri, after directing all parties to maintain the status quo in an order issued in April 2024, adjourned the matter for judgment, fixed for September 29, 2025.
The claimants – Rev. Goodlife Iduoku Ben, Amadi Christian Echele, Chimenem Wisdom Jerome and three others – are contesting what they describe as their unlawful removal and replacement without due process.
They argue that they were duly appointed and confirmed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, and that records of their confirmation were already with the Clerk of the House before appointment letters were issued by the Governor.
In an affidavit deposed by the suspended Chairman, Rev. Ben, the claimants insist that the sole administrator lacks the legal authority to suspend them or appoint a new chairman and commission members.
The defendants in the suit include the Sole Administrator, Ibas, the Accountant General of the state, Access Bank, Zenith Bank and eleven others.