Photo: Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas
Mathew Amaechi
The Rivers State government has dismissed claims circulating on social media that it obtained a court order preventing Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, the sole administrator, from resuming duties.
According to Hon. Edison Ogerenye Ehie, Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, the rumour is a malicious attempt to cause problems in the state.
Ehie described the social media post as “fake news” and “cheap blackmail,” stating that the author’s lack of education and literacy is evident in their inability to correctly spell names and provide accurate details about the alleged court case.
The Rivers State government has advised the public to disregard the false information, emphasizing that Ehie has decided to conduct his affairs peacefully and in accordance with the law.
This development comes amidst the ongoing controversy surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, which has been met with resistance from the state government.
Ogerenye Ehie, in a statement, said that those behind the rumour on social media have the intention to cause problems in the state.
Ehie said:”My attention has been drawn to an obvious fake news being spread on social media by delusional minds, who are bent on continuing to aggravate the already tensed political atmosphere in the State, to the effect that I secured ‘an order’ from the Rivers State High Court ‘preventing the Sole Administrator’, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), ‘from resuming duties’ in Government House, Port Harcourt.”
The malicious post claimed that the alleged order was granted in a fictitious suit I purportedly filed challenging ‘the Presidential Pronouncement of State of Emergency in Rivers State’ as ‘unconstitutional’.
Ordinarily, I would not have reacted to this empty social media rant by low-minds and never-do-wells who thrive on fomenting trouble and causing disaffection among the people of the State, but to save the gullible public from buying into this cheap blackmail and misinformation, and believing same to be true.
The truth is that even the author is so uneducated and illiterate that he or she cannot correctly spell my name, or the names of others he or she claims to be writing about, or even the suit number and when it was filed or heard.
He added:”It is important to advise the general public and particularly the good people of Rivers State to discountenance this baseless, false and malicious post, as it is intended to create bad blood among the people while painting me as a non-conformist.
I have since decided to be law-abiding and conduct my affairs peacefully in accordance with the law, holding strong to my faith and God, and has no intention to act in any way that will present me as a disruptor.”
