By Abiola Olawale
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday held a meeting with Vice Admiral Ibok-Étè Ibas (retd.), the newly appointed sole administrator of Rivers State, at the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, Abuja.
The meeting took place just a day after the President declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich state.
It was gathered that Vice Admiral Ibas, a former Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021, arrived at the Villa around 12:48 p.m., shortly after his appointment was announced on Tuesday, March 18.
The declaration of emergency came with the suspension of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and all members of the State House of Assembly for an initial six-month period.
Tinubu cited persistent political instability, constitutional breaches, and rising security threats as the reasons for this decisive action.
The crisis in Rivers State stems from a prolonged power struggle between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.