The Sole Administrator running the affairs of Rivers State seems confronted by numerous ruins around the state following deliberate burning down of local council secretariats and looting of some public facilities. Many others are abandoned public facilities that have been overgrown by grasses.

Ibok Ekwe Ibas, a retired vice admiral, says he has however collated enough information to enable him begin rebuilding.

The retired vice admiral said on Saturday, April 5, 2025, that he has continued to collate useful information and physically assessed existing infrastructure to enable him properly articulate the measure of intervention that will be implemented.

Ibas made the remark shortly after assessing the level of vandalism of structures at the council secretariats of Emohua and Ikwerre Local Government Areas on Saturday. He had toured the Ogoni axis earlier.

Also inspected were facilities within Rumueche Community General Hospital in Emohua that have been vandalised completely. The premises were said to be overgrown with weeds. He also visited the Isiokpo Zonal Hospital that is said to also be affected by uncontrolled plant growth.

The sole administrator explained that he had got briefs from the permanent secretaries of the various ministries and decided to effectively collaborate with them to see what exists in reality by visiting sites of ongoing projects, including vandalised infrastructure.

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The administrator said: “We have a lot of projects that are ongoing, which we had the opportunity of looking at. You can also recall that there are some challenges that, over the past months, have cropped up. I also needed to see firsthand what the state of affairs are.

“Having gone out, I think I will now go back and see how best we can address the challenges, while we continue to encourage the contractors that are handling the projects to make sure that they keep to the terms of the contract.”

The retired vice admiral emphasized the importance of peace and collaboration as vital to achieving progress, fostering a stable and prosperous state.

“A peaceful state brings prosperity to all of us. Not just those from within the state, but Nigeria, and I think we all have to work together to make sure that we make the state a place we love to be,” he added.

The Solad has yet to meet an abandoned project or poorly funded one. He has only urged the contractors to do their part.