Rivers State is feeling the heat of a new broom sweeping through its local government corridors. Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the Sole Administrator appointed by President Bola Tinubu, has issued a stern directive to all 23 Heads of Local Government Administration (HLGAs): submit detailed reports on your councils, pronto. Issued Wednesday via a memo from the Ministry of Local Government Affairs’ Permanent Secretary, Dame Dr. Itong Awani, the order demands a rundown of staff numbers, revenue sources, and more by day’s end. For a state reeling from political upheaval, it’s a move that’s got everyone from market traders to X users asking: is this accountability, or a power play?
Ibas isn’t playing small ball. The memo, crisp and no-nonsense, calls for an “introduction/preamble,” council functions, a cadre-by-cadre staff breakdown, and a list of revenue streams think taxes, levies, whatever keeps the lights on. It’s due at the Permanent Secretary’s office by close of business today, March 26, following a template that leaves no room for excuses. This comes hot on the heels of Ibas confirming last Friday that withheld local government allocations averaging N14.3 billion monthly, per Sahara Reporters were finally released after the Supreme Court axed October’s council elections. “I feel the pain of these workers,” he said then, promising swift salary payments. Now, he’s digging deeper, and it’s clear he wants the full picture.
For Rivers folks like Mama Ngozi, a yam seller in Mile 1 Market, it’s about time. “They’ve been owing my cousin, a council clerk, for months,” she told me, peeling tubers with a frown. “If this man means business, let him show us the money’s working.” Ibas, sworn in March 19 amid Tinubu’s state of emergency declaration, has been vocal about stability meeting security heads, vowing law and order, per Channels TV. X posts at 12:40 WAT from @TheMandatey flagged his directive, with @Harmless47 at 13:32 WAT calling it “unprecedented.” Sentiment’s mixed some cheer transparency, others smell a federal leash tightening on Rivers’ cash cow.
Context matters here. Tinubu’s move to suspend Governor Siminalayi Fubara and install Ibas sparked uproar Peter Obi and Atiku cried foul, per Daily Post Nigeria, while lawsuits pile up at ECOWAS courts, per Leadership NG. Rivers’ N400 billion-plus six-month budget, per Mc Ebisco, is a juicy prize, and Ibas answers only to Abuja, per NADECO’s jab on X. This report order could be step one in reshaping local control—or exposing waste. NULGE’s Clifford Paul praised Ibas’s salary push last week, per Freedom Online, but today’s ask feels bigger: show me the books, or else.
Critically, it’s a double-edged sword. Accountability’s golden Rivers’ councils have long been cash churners with little to show, locals grumble but Ibas’s military precision raises hackles. Is he auditing for the people, or prepping to handpick loyalists, as Naija News hinted with rumors of new LGA appointees? The deadline’s tight, the scope’s broad, and the stakes? Sky-high. For Mama Ngozi and millions, it’s less about memos and more about results. Ibas has the reins let’s see if he rides for Rivers, or just reins it in.