Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd)
By Victory Oghene
A civil society organisation, the Niger Delta Advocates for Good Governance (NDAGG), has accused has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and (EFCC) the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the outgoing appointed Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd), over the alleged large-scale looting of ₦23bn Local Government Fund.
NDAGG specifically described as “dangerous” the alleged financial mismanagement of Local Government funds.
A statement by its spokesman, Chief Honest Nwenenda Woke, the NDAGG claimed that in July 2025, Ibas ordered deductions of more than ₦200 million from each of the 23 Local Government Areas of the State without any form of accountability and or clear explanation.
The statement said; “The Niger Delta Advocates for Good Governance cannot and will not sit idly by while the future of Rivers people is mortgaged by one man’s greed. Rivers belongs to all of us, and we will resist this looting with every lawful means until accountability is restored”.
NDAGG further said that the controversy resurfaced on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, during the monthly meeting of the Joint Account Allocation Committee at Government House, during which Ibas reportedly announced another round of deductions exceeding ₦1 billion from each of the 23 Local Government Councils—under the pretext of funding pension payments.
The directive by Ibas, NDAGG said provoked an open standoff as newly sworn-in Council chairmen rejected the cheques handed to them.
Accordingly, NDAGG questioned Ibas’s credibility, stressing that his earlier claims of discovering thousands of ghost workers that allegedly reduced the state’s wage bill was questionable.
NADGG said; “If that claim was genuine, why then is he attempting to strip the Local Government Areas of a staggering ₦23 billion? Rivers people are not fools. Someone is clearly being deceived here”.
The group also questioned the frequent salary delays under the administration of Ibas, stressing that August salaries might face even longer setbacks due to what it described as reckless financial manoeuvres.
“It is shameful that instead of consolidating the peace painstakingly restored to Rivers by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Admiral Ibas has chosen to exploit the situation, abusing Mr. President’s goodwill while dragging our state toward bankruptcy,” NDAGG emphasised.
It announced plans to petition international partners and foreign governments to impose travel restrictions and sanctions on the outgoing sole administrator.
