- EFCC Boss, Finance Minister also in Aso Villa Wednesday
With strong hints about stewardship reckoning time, President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday summoned the immediate past Rivers State Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) to Aso Villa.
The former Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), who arrived the Presidential Villa at about 5:50 pm clad in brown native attire, was seen clutching some files in his hands
However, despite the visit coming amid calls for him to give an account of his stewardship in Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibas did not betray any sign of uneasiness before or after his meeting with Mr President.
This is as no official statement has been issued by the Presidency explaining the ex-Sole Administrator’s sudden appearance in the Villa at the President’s behest.
Curiously, others seen at the nation’s seat of power almost at the same time were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, as well as the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede.
As expected, the coincidence of their presence at the Villa immediately fuelled speculations and echoes around Vice Admiral Ibas’ six months tenure as Rivers State Sole Administrator following the state of emergency declared by the President in March this year.
In the heat of Wednesday’s activities, the Finance Minister was seen exiting the Presidential Villa quickly, only to return shortly with an unmarked file in hand.
Hints on Ibas’ invitation to the Presidential as dropped by some insiders indicated that the development may have connections to heightening calls by some stakeholders to have him probed over allegations of poor resources management and non- improvement of infrastructure during his short-lived tenure.
After his six months’ duty tour as the Sole Administrator of the oil-rich state, Vice Admiral Ibas left office on September 17, with the President directing the suspended State governor, Sir Sim Fubara, his deputy, and the State House of Assembly members to resume work as the elected State officials.
But at their first plenary after the end of emergency rule, the Rivers State House of Assembly, chaired by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, had dropped the hints on members readiness to investigate the State’s expenditure during the six months of emergency rule.
In their resolutions, the Lawmakers said, “To explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule with regard to spending from the consolidated revenue fund for the award of contracts and other expenditure.”
Reacting to the development, the former Sole Administrator had slammed the Assembly’s decision to probe the State’s expenditure profile under his watch over the last few months.
Available reports indicate that during the former Sole Administrator’s time at The Brick House in Port Harcourt, the oil-rich State received a whopping N254.37 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as revenue between March and August 2025.
Meanwhile, a reliable sources, who preferred anonymity told Forefront News that tying the Villa visit of Edun and Olukoyede to whatever transpired and is currently happening in Rivers State are mere speculations by some jobless people seeking relevance and attention.
Vice Admiral Ibas was CNS from 2015 to 2021 under late President Muhammadu Buhari.
