A Magistrate in Rivers State has voluntarily stepped down from the bench, describing the state’s current leadership under a retired military officer as unconstitutional and unacceptable.
Magistrate Ejike George tendered his resignation in a letter dated 11 April, addressed to the state’s Chief Judge through the state secretary of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission. In it, he made it clear that he could no longer serve under a system that, in his view, undermines democracy and the rule of law.
“This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern state like ours,” George stated.
His resignation is the latest in a growing wave of disapproval following President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers. The move saw all elected officials, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara, suspended and replaced with a sole administrator, retired naval chief Ibok-Ete Ibas.
Since his appointment, Ibas has faced sharp criticism from many Nigerians and civil society organisations. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), one of the most vocal opponents of the move, insists that the President’s actions violated Section 305 of the Constitution and amount to executive overreach. According to the NBA, Tinubu lacks the constitutional authority to sack a sitting governor.
The controversy deepened last week when the NBA announced it was relocating its 2025 Annual General Conference from Port Harcourt to Enugu. The association said it could not legitimise what it described as an illegal regime by holding its flagship event in Rivers.
In response, Ibas demanded a refund of ₦300 million, which he claimed had been paid to the NBA as hosting rights for the conference. But the NBA stood its ground, accusing Ibas of running the state like a military barracks.
“His actions have undermined democratic institutions and processes, flouting the rule of law with impunity. Though clad in civilian attire, he governs as though the state is under military rule,” the association said.
Magistrate George echoed this sentiment in his resignation, saying the current political arrangement alienates legal norms and his conscience.
“Milord will agree with me that this type of governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to our hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators,” he stated.
“Having put in a whopping 16 out of my 22 years of legal practice to this judiciary as a magistrate under successive democratic administrations, I find it difficult to work with the current government as doing so would amount to a tacit and naïve acquiescence,” he wrote.
The backlash is not limited to the legal community. Former Rivers Governor Ada George accused ex-Governor Nyesom Wike of influencing the crisis because Governor Fubara refused to do his bidding. Wike dismissed the allegation, saying the elder statesman was “talking like children.”
Activist Jake Epelle, founder of the Albino Foundation, also slammed Ibas for appointing sole administrators in local government areas, arguing that his role is to manage, not dominate.
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