Attempt to probe Ibas tenure a “fools errand” – SA

Hector Igbikiowubu, Senior Special Adviser on Media to Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), has described the Rivers State House of Assembly’s plan to probe the former administrator’s six-month tenure as a “fool’s errand.”

Igbikiowubu, speaking on behalf of Ibas, said the lawmakers lacked the authority to investigate his principal since they neither appointed him nor supervised his administration.

He explained that Ibas was appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and operated under the oversight of the National Assembly throughout the emergency rule in Rivers State.

The Rivers State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, had at its first plenary after the expiration of the emergency rule, resolved to investigate how the state’s finances were managed under Ibas.

The lawmakers specifically referenced spending from the consolidated revenue fund, contract awards, and other expenditures during the period.

But reacting to the development, Ibas maintained that any attempt by the Assembly to probe him was effectively an attempt to probe the President and the National Assembly. He added that while the lawmakers were free to carry out what they perceived to be their functions, their efforts would not yield any meaningful result.

“When you say they were going to probe the tenure of the administrator, was it the Assembly that appointed the administrator? The point to note is that commentary is free, but facts remain facts,” Igbikiowubu said.

He argued that the legislators, having been inactive during the emergency rule, were only trying to reassert their relevance, but insisted that the planned probe “amounts to nothing.” PUNCH