Atedo Peterside, President of ANAP Foundation and founder of IBTC Bank, has publicly challenged Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, over his recent appointments of Local Government Sole Administrators and other officials.
Peterside accused Ibas of appointing “riff raffs” to positions of honor and questioned the legitimacy of the appointment process.
Speaking on Arise TV, Peterside stated, “The Sole Administrator either misread his brief or has no understanding of his role. Instead of helping to achieve stability and healing, he might be inadvertently adding fuel to the fire.” He emphasized that Ibas, who hails from Cross River State, has no right to inflame tensions in Rivers State, especially amid an already volatile political climate.
Peterside criticized the irregular manner of Ibas’s emergence, highlighting that the executive was misguided and the legislative confirmation via voice vote was insufficient. He challenged Ibas to disclose how appointments were made, asking, “Did he advertise the positions? Did he call for nominations? Did he search Rivers State for the most competent, skilled persons of high integrity?”
He warned that Rivers people would not stand by while an outsider “destroys their resources and inflames the situation,” concluding, “There should be no mistake whatsoever that we will sit down forever and accept persons being appointed to lord over our state and our resources.
