Rivers Court to Rule Thursday on Sack of LG Service Commission Members

|By Chinwendu Nwani

A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt will on Thursday, October 2, deliver judgment in the legal battle between the sacked chairman and members of the Rivers State Local Government Service Commission and the former Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ibas.

The claimants — Reverend Goodlife Iduoku Ben, Amadi Christian Echele, Chimenem Wisdom Jerome, and three others — dragged Ibas to court after he announced their removal and attempted to replace them without following due process.

They argued that they were properly appointed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara and confirmed by the Rivers State House of Assembly, insisting the Sole Administrator lacked the authority to suspend them or appoint new members.

In an affidavit deposed to by the suspended chairman, Iduoku Ben, the group maintained that records of their confirmation were already with the Clerk of the House before their letters of appointment were issued.

Justice Frank Onyiri, who presided over the matter, had earlier barred Ibas from inaugurating new members into the Commission and ordered that the status quo be maintained until judgment.

The case, initially slated for ruling earlier, was adjourned to Thursday after the judge requested more time to conclude his decision.

The defendants in the suit include the former Sole Administrator (on behalf of the state government), the Accountant General, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, and eleven others.