Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Administrator of Rivers State | |
| Assumed office 18 March 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Siminalayi Fubara(as governor) |
| Chief of the Naval Staff | |
| In office 21 July 2015 – 29 January 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Vice Adm.U. O. Jibrin |
| Succeeded by | Vice Adm.A. Z. Gambo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1960-09-27)27 September 1960 (age 64)[1] Nko,Eastern Region,British Nigeria (now inCross River State, Nigeria) |
| Spouse | Theresa Ibas |
| Education |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Nigeria |
| Branch/service |  Nigerian Navy |
| Years of service | 1979 - 2021 |
| Rank |  Vice Admiral |
| Unit | Chief of Naval Staff |
| Commands | Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command Chief Staff Officer, Naval Training Command |
Ibok-Ete Ekwe IbasⓘCFRpsc+GSS AM ndc MSc (born 27 September 1960) is a retiredNigerian Navyvice admiral, who was the 22ndChief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of theNigerian Navy from 2015 to 2021.[2] He has served as theSole Administrator ofRivers State since 18 March 2025, following the suspension of GovernorSiminalayi Fubara by PresidentBola Tinubu after declaring astate of emergency.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Ibas was born in Nko,Cross River State,South South Nigeria.[10] He enlisted into theNigerian Defence Academy as a member of 26 Regular Course on 20 June 1979 and was commissioned sub-lieutenant on 1 January 1983. He began his primary education at Nko Primary School, Nko, in 1966 and completed at Big Qua Primary School,Calabar in 1971. He then proceeded to theHope Waddell Training Institute,Calabar from 1972 to 1976. Between 1977 and 1979, he attended the School of Basic Studies Ogoja before proceeding to theNigerian Defence Academy in 1979.
Ibas has attended several military courses at home and abroad, including the Sub-Lieutenant Technical Course atINS Venduruthy in India from April 1983 to May 1984 and Primary Pilot Training at the 301 Primary Flying Training School at Nigerian Airforce Base inKaduna from April 1986 to October 1987. He proceeded to theArmed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna in January 1990 and completed the Junior Staff Course in June of the same year. In July 1992, he reported at the Amphibious Warfare School of the United StatesMarine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, US, and graduated with a diploma in amphibious warfare in May 1993. In February 1994, Ibas commenced the Officers' Long Course specializing in underwater warfare at the Underwater Warfare School, NNSQuorra and completed same in February 1995. From August 1996 to July 1997, he returned to the prestigious Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, where he completed the Senior Staff Course with excellent grades. He is also an alumnus of theNational Defence College, Islamabad, Pakistan, having attended the National Defence Course from August 2005 to June 2006. In addition he holds a master's degree in defence and strategic studies fromQuaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan.[11]
Ibas has held several appointments in theNigerian Navy. As amidshipman, he served on board NNSRuwan Yaro,NNSObuma andNNSAradu. He later served on board NNSAyam and NNSEkpe as a watch keeping officer after he was commissionedsub-lieutenant. He was to later become the executive officer of NNSSiri, NNSEkun and NNSAmbe between July 1993 and August 1996 as alieutenant commander. He was thecommanding officer of the Nigerian Navy Underwater Warfare School from August 1997 to September 1998 and thereafter, the commanding officer of the Forward Operating Base Ibaka from September 1998 to June 2000. Due to his outstanding performance on the Senior Staff Course, he was appointed as a directing staff at theArmed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from June 2000 to June 2002. He later returned to the college in January 2009 as the director of the Department of Maritime Warfare, a position he held until November 2010. His last sojourn in the college was asdeputy commandant from January to February 2014.
Ibas was the navalprovost marshal from April 2003 to June 2004 and was later the principal staff officer to the thenCNS from June 2004 to July 2005. He was the command operations officer at the Headquarters Western Naval Command, Lagos, from June to December 2006, and from December 2006 to January 2009, he was the commander of the Naval Air Base, Ojo. The senior officer was later appointed chief staff officer at Headquarters, Naval Training Command, Lagos, from September 2010 to March 2011. In recognition of his versatility in staff duties and administration, the senior officer was appointed to the Naval Headquarters first, as the chief of administration from March 2011 to February 2012 and later as the Navy Secretary from February 2012 to January 2013. Thereafter, he became the flag officer commanding Western Naval Command from January 2013 to January 2014. He was appointed chief of logistics in February 2014 and then the GMD/CEO of Nigerian Navy Holdings Limited in December of the same year. This was the appointment he held until he was appointed the22nd chief of the Naval Staff on 13 July 2015.
On 18 March 2025, PresidentBola Tinubu in an official broadcast declared astate of emergency inRivers State, suspending the incumbent GovernorSiminalayi Fubara, his deputyNgozi Odu, and members of the state'shouse of assembly.[12][13]
“𝐁𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐌𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢 𝐅𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐲, 𝐌𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐠𝐨𝐳𝐢 𝐎𝐝𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬."[14]
Following the announcement, the President pronounced his nomination of the retired Vice Admiral as theInterimAdministrator of the state's affairs:[15][16]
"𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐛𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐛𝐚𝐬 (𝐑𝐭𝐝) 𝐚𝐬 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞."[17][18]
In the course of a distinguished service in the Nigerian Navy, Ibas has earned several prestigious awards, including the Silver Jubilee Medal, ECOMOG Medal, Forces Service Star, Meritorious Service Star, Distinguished Service Star and the General Service Star. Others are the Passed Staff Course (DAGGER) and a Fellow of the NDC.
In October 2022, a Nigerian National Honour ofCommander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) was conferred on him by PresidentMuhammadu Buhari.[19]
Ibas holds the membership of several reputable professional organizations, such as theNigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and theNigerian Institute of Management. Ibas has also attended some seminars and exhibitions at home and abroad. He attended the 25th International Homeland Security Exhibition and the 3rd International Exhibition for Operational Units inTel Aviv, Israel, in June 2011. In August 2012, he also attended the London International Leadership Course in London, England. He was in United States of America in January 2013 for a capacity development course atHarvard Kennedy School, thus making him an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School in the US. He was at Naval Dockyard, Lagos in February 2013 to attend a naval engineering and logistics seminar.
He is married to Theresa Ibas[20] and they are blessed with 3 children.
Ibas enjoys reading, watching documentaries and playinggolf.[10]
Media related toIbok-Ete Ekwe Ibas at Wikimedia Commons