A former Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Marshall Stanley-Uwom, has filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking to restrain the Federal Government from disbursing local government funds in Rivers State to the appointed Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (Rtd).
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/797/2025, Stanley-Uwom contends that such allocations are unconstitutional, arguing that local government councils should be administered by democratically elected officials, as prescribed under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
Stanley-Uwom, who served in the Rivers Assembly during Nyesom Wike’s tenure as governor, also referenced a recent Supreme Court ruling reinforcing the constitutional mandate for democratically elected local government councils.
The plaintiff wants the court to:
Declare that Ibas’ appointment as Sole Administrator is invalid.
Order Ibas to vacate the position immediately.
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Stop the release of local government funds from the Federation Account to the Rivers State local councils under the current arrangement.
Declare that the presidential proclamation of a state of emergency in Rivers State has lapsed, as it lacks the required two-thirds approval of both houses of the National Assembly under Section 305(6)(b) of the Constitution.
Also cited in the suit are several top government bodies and officials including President Bola Tinubu (1st defendant), the National Assembly, leadership of both chambers, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Stanley-Uwom, who also holds the traditional title of Adibaal Abuan I of Abua in Abua-Odual Local Government Area, is pushing for the full restoration of democratic governance at the local government level in the state, asserting that federal appointments into those offices amount to an illegal usurpation of the people’s mandate.
The legal challenge deepens the political tension in Rivers State, where the question of control over local government structures has become a flashpoint in the ongoing power struggle between state and federal actors.