An online medium, not TimesNow.com.ng, had claimed that Justice Boma Diepriye of the trial court ruled that President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of a sole administrator was “illegal, null, and void”.
But Chief Registrar David Ihua-Maduenyi, in a statement on Thursday, April 17, clarified that Justice Boma Diepriye, whose name was mistakenly listed as the one in the report, was not a judge of the Federal High Court but of the Rivers State High Court.
The statement further added that Justice Diepriye was currently on Easter vacation, which started on April 14. It added that only a designated vacation judge was sitting during this period.
The court then stressed that no State High Court has given any order concerning the appointment of a sole administrator as mentioned in the report.
Ihua-Maduenyi then said that he was disappointed that some bloggers and online news journalists prioritise focused on sensationalism rather than professionalism, only to seek online traffic.
The Rivers state judiciary then calls on Nigerians to seek clarification on any news report about the court and its officials before going ahead to publish them. He also urged the public to dismiss the publication as misleading and false. The statement then reads in part:
In March 2025, President Tinubu announced a state of emergency in Rivers, suspending the Governor Fubara-led executive and the House of Assembly activities over the growing political crisis in the state.
The political tension was said to be between the governor and his predecessor, now the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and it is said to be about the political structure in the state.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the sole administrator in Rivers state has insisted that the N300 million paid to the Nigerian Bar Association (NB) by the suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara was for the hosting rights of the 2025 annual general conference (AGC).
Ibok-Ete Ibas’ leadership in the oil-rich state rejected the claim of the legal body that the payment was a “gift” and threatened to take legal action against the sole administrator. The NBA had claimed that it did not collect a hosting fee of N300 million from the administration of suspended Governor Fubara.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
