“What Insolence”: Inibehe Dismisses Ibas Summons Issued Fubara As “Silly”

By Ayodele Oni

Inibehe Effiong, a Human Rights Lawyer, has advised suspended Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara not to dignify the summons issued to him by the Sole Administrator of the State, Ibok-Ete Ibas with a response.

In a move which has shocked not a few Nigerians, Ibas, in a statement, summoned Fubara and his Deputy, Dr Ngozi Ordu, to appear before him at Government House, Port Harcourt,  unfailingly, on April 18.

The summons, according to a Special announcement by the  Secretary to the  State Government, SSG, Professor Ibibia Worika, is to enable Fubara explain and justify all the appointments he made since 2023 when he was sworn-in as Governor. The Governor is also to explain the processes used for such appointments.

And as if those were not inexplicable enough, Ibas, also, wants Fubara to explain why he thinks he, Fubara, should be reinstated to office as Governor.

Worika emphasized that the summons is part of an official inquiry into appointments made by Fubara during his almost two years in office.

Reacting to the shocking  development in a post on his X page, Effiong urged Fubara not to dignify the summons with a response. He dismissed it as silly and ridiculous and submitted that this could happen only in Nigeria. He wondered how an impostor would summon a Governor who is shielded by constitutional immunity.

Inibehe: “If Fubara dignifies this silly and ridiculous summons, it means he is not a serious person.

“An unconstitutional impostor is summoning a Governor who is protected by constitutional immunity?

“This madness can only happen in Tinubu’s Nigeria.

Such insolence!”

President Bola Tinubu proclaimed a State of Emergency in Rivers State on February 18, 2025, over the political crisis which engulfed the State since 2023, a product of a quarrel between the Governor and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, who  was his political godfather. The President suspended the Governor, his Deputy and Members of the State House of Assembly for an initial period of six months, and appointed Ibas, a retired Chief of Naval Staff, as Sole Administrator. Since then, Ibas has been like a hurricane, dismantling everything put in place by a democratically elected Governor and Government, including Commissions, Boards, University Councils and more. He has, also, in defiance to a Court order, appointed Sole Administrators  for Local Government Councils, prompting people to wonder what the agenda is.

The summons issued to Fubara, whose constitutional immunity has not been stripped by any Court is the climax of the confusion and aberration in the State.