Rivers: Former Magistrate says he was not trained to take orders from a military Administrator.
Ejike George, the former Chief Magistrate in Rivers State, has stated that the reason he resigned from the Rivers State Judiciary was that he is not trained to take directives from a military administrator.
“I am simply saying that I cannot take instructions from a military administrator. I cannot,” he said on Thursday Night, May 17, on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television.
President Bola Tinubu announced the appointment of Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (rtd) as the State Sole Administrator on March 18, 2025, after he declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu, and the Rivers State House of Assembly members.
The president attached his decision on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he couldn’t continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking any action.
Recall that Ibas was the Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021.
The former Magistrate reprimanded the president’s decision, saying that there was no crisis in Rivers State to have warranted the suspension of Fubara and others as well as the introduction of military-style rule.
“It is not fair to the people of Rivers State. My reason for resignation is simply because I cannot adapt to the military style of adjudication that would be introduced by the reason of the sole administrator.
“As a magistrate, our courts are courts of summary jurisdiction. Our proceedings are not guided by the constitution of this country. That being the case, it means that I would take directives from my employer who is the Chief Judge of Rivers State.
“We, in turn, take some level of directive from the governor; that would have been the elected governor who had acted as the chief security officer of the state.
“I am simply saying that I cannot take instructions from a military administrator. I cannot. In the entire 16 years that I served with the Rivers State Judiciary, I have taken instructions from civilian administrators. I do not know how I am going to adapt and now begin to take instructions from a military administrator. I find it very strange,” he stated.
He also criticized the State Judicial Commission, which claimed that, on the contrary, he was due for voluntary retirement and did not resign
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