Investigations into the expenditures of Ibok-Ete Ibas, the former sole administrator of Rivers State, have been ordered by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
Ibas was asked by the panel to provide an explanation for his expenditures of more than ₦254.37 billion that he received from the Federation Account between March and August of 2025.
The rights organization contended in a Freedom of Information request that access to official data, including the expenditures made by the previous Rivers State Administrator, would improve accountability and transparency in the administration of public funds.
“We are submitting a Freedom of Information request to force Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the immediate past Rivers State Administrator, to provide an explanation of how his government used the more than N254.37 billion that was received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee between March and August 2025, including the N22 billion that was purportedly allocated for CCTV in the State House,” SERAP stated.
“The public interests would be legitimately served by the FOI request.”
Additionally, SERAP stated that it will assist in addressing any misuses of the public trust as well as challenging and correcting any claims of corruption and poor management.
Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Freedom of Information Act all guarantee the right to information, according to the group.
The public can examine and discover the truth in the government’s operations thanks to the right to access information.
Nigerians are entitled to know how Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) used the FAAC funds and other funds that were received when the state was under emergency. Their legally enforceable human rights include it.
“Everyone has the right to information, including how Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.) used FAAC funds and other funds obtained during the state’s emergency rule,” according to the Freedom of Information Act, Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The idea that citizens should have access to information about the actions of their government is the foundation of the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, and the nation’s human rights and anti-corruption commitments.
The rights group emphasized that the state could not use the emergency rule as a justification to withhold the requested information.
