Fact-Check: Claim that Court Sacked Rivers’ Sole Administrator or Ordered Fubara’s Reinstatement is False!

BY: Mustapha Lawal

Claim: 

Court sacks Rivers State Sole Administrator and orders reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Verdict: 

False! No court ruling has been made to sack the sole administrator or reinstate Fubara.

Full Text:

Several viral Facebook posts claim that a federal court has sacked Rivers State’s sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), and ordered President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reinstate suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Screenshot of one of the Claim|| FCA

One of the posts reads: “BREAKING 💔💔 Court Sacks Ibas as Rivers Sole Administrator, Orders Tinubu to Reinstate Fubara.” Another widely circulated post attributed the ruling to Justice Boma Diepiri, alleging that a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt gave the order.

The claim has been shared extensively across Facebook and other platforms (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here).

The political crisis in Rivers State erupted in early 2025 following a fierce feud between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, now the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. In March 2025, citing political instability, President Tinubu declared a six-month state of emergency in Rivers and suspended the state’s executive and legislative arms. He appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.) as the state’s sole administrator

Given the politically charged environment, any report about a court reversing Tinubu’s emergency measures would have significant national implications.

Verification

FactCheckAfrica traced official responses to the claim and found that David Ihua-Maduenyi, the Chief Registrar of the Rivers State High Court, publicly debunked the claim.
He clarified that:

• Justice Boma Diepiri, mentioned in the viral posts, is a judge of the Rivers State High Court, not the Federal High Court as alleged.
• Justice Diepiri has not presided over any matter relating to Governor Fubara’s suspension or the appointment of a sole administrator.
• No such court ruling exists either from the Rivers State judiciary or from any federal court.

FactCheckAfrica also conducted a keyword search across reliable Nigerian news platforms and judicial portals. No credible media outlet reported any court ruling against the sole administrator or in favour of Fubara’s reinstatement as of April 28, 2025. The intense political crisis in Rivers State has been widely reported by media outlets. Therefore, any court ruling that might remove the sole administrator and bring back the suspended governor would certainly be newsworthy, unlike the current assertion suggests..

Conclusion

The claim that a court has sacked Rivers State’s sole administrator and ordered the reinstatement of suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara is false. The Rivers State judiciary has officially debunked the claim, and there is no verifiable court judgment supporting the narrative.