Rivers State Sole Administrator, Ibas was Accused of 'Misconduct' By Naval Procurement Director

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By Correspondent

Reports have emerged how retired Vice Admiral Iron Ete Ibas was accused of ‘misconduct’ by a former Assistant Director Procurement in the Defence Intelligence Agency, Capt. Emmanuel Ekpe, aka Owen.

Capt Ekpe had in 2022, protested what he described as forced retirement after he reportedly accused the new Sole Administrator of Rivers State, former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd.), of misconduct.

His petition was in an open letter to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.). Ekpe, who also goes by the name Owen, was a decorated naval officer, alleged that Naval authorities denied him promotion twice for allegedly exposing corruption in the Navy under the ex-CNS, Ibas.

The open letter was titled, ‘An Open Letter To The President And Commander-In-Chief of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria’, and made available to reporters by his lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi.

Ekpe had reportedly said that: ”Using myself as a case study. I was repeatedly victimised by the former Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette Ekwe Ibas, for more than 20 years and continued by the present naval authority in conjunction with the present Minister of Defence. After availing myself of all options to seek redress within the system, I had no other recourse than to write a letter of redress to Mr President.

“My problem with the former Chief of the Naval Staff escalated in 2015 as a result of a case of fraud I had reported against him as the former Executive Officer of NNS AMBE, which was at the time in Liberia on Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group Mission in 1996.

“The former CNS was adamant on punishing me for exposing his corrupt behaviour. And so despite the fact that I had repeatedly met all the criteria for promotion, I along with so many others were denied promotion on frivolous grounds.”

Ekpe said his international passport data was collected and he was placed on the National Security Watch list.

Continuing, Ekpe said: “Your Excellency, based on the (previous) letter forwarded to you, I faced open hostilities from certain quarters in the government and the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

“If not for the intervention of the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Defence Intelligence who believed that an infraction had been committed the story would have been different today.

“One of the numerous interviews held was with the former Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral IE Ibas (retd.), initiated by the immediate past Chief of Defence Intelligence. This meeting was held at the past CNS office in December 2019, in attendance were 3 of his Principal Staff Officers.

“Less than a week after this uneventful meeting, a Navy Signal was released directing that I and 25 other officers immediately proceed to Pan Atlantic University in Abuja on pre-retirement course.

“It has to be observed that 20 of the selected officers were not due for retirement as they still had time in the Service. I am of the opinion that this action was carried out by the Naval Authorities to shroud the fact that I and some of the selected officers were blacklisted by the CNS.

“Sir, it has to be noted that this course is meant for officers who have less than 6 months in the Service.

“In addition, I was the only one relieved of my appointment as the Deputy Director Procurement at the Defence Intelligence Agency in January of 2020.

“I was without an office or appointment until the 9th of July 2022, when I was compulsorily retired by Vice Admiral AZ Gambo and endorsed by the Honourable Minister of Defence despite a reminder to Mr. President and a letter of appeal written in accordance with existing regulations.

“I saw this as a breach of my fundamental human rights manifested in the deliberate denial of my right to a fair hearing.

“Some of the allegations raised in the letter include my victimisation with relevant documents, victimisation and forced retirement of experienced and skilled operations officers through non-promotion, others include promotion of fraudulent officers that were investigated by the EFCC and indicted by a competent court of jurisdiction for stealing over officers who had excelled and continue to excel in various theatres of operations within and outside Nigeria and description of these issues have not been addressed. Or is my President and Commander-in-Chief no longer interested in zero tolerance for corruption? I doubt very much that this is the case.”

Also in 2020, another Navy officer dragged Ibas and five others to court over ‘wrongful’ retirement.

Navy Commodore, Linus Ugwu who was alleged that he was retired unlawfully, had slammed a N1billion suit against the Attorney General of the Federation, Minister of Defence, Nigeria Navy and four others.

Other defendants in the suit before the National Industrial Court, sitting in Lagos, are the Nigerian Navy Board, Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (Vice Admiral) and Chief of Defence Staff.

The claimant through his counsel Mr. Stanley Ochoga, said he was purportedly retired from the services of the third defendant by the fifth defendant with effect from February 25, 2019.

In a 78 paragraph affidavit, the claimant averred that he was persistently and maliciously witch-hunted by the fifth defendant since 2007 till date as a result of his legal review which contradicted the report of Board of inquiry by the 6th defendant following the investigations into the alleged wrongful dismissal of one Seaman Amadi on official number X10155 from services of 3rd defendant.

Ugwu averred that he was appointed Director Legal Services, Naval Headquarters between 2010 and 2011, noting that he served under the 6th defendant who was the Chief of Administration Naval headquarters.

According to him, during the period under review, the 6th defendant for no justifiable reason refused to update his personal evaluation, which was his duty as the reviewing officer thereby depriving him of such a report necessary for his career progression.

The claimant also stated that the 3rd defendant acting under the prompting of the 6th defendant arraigned him before a Special Court-Martial in 2012, for alleged disobedience and negligent performance of duty, but he was discharged and acquitted.

Furthermore, the claimant averred that since he filed his pleas on May 30, 2019, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th defendants had resorted to threatening him, through phone calls and from senior officers that they would not comply with any judicial order (s) in connection with the suit.

The claimant also averred that consequent upon his purported retirement, by the 3rd and 5th defendants, his monthly salary and allowances had been stopped by the 3rd and 5th defendants with effect from March 1, 2019, depriving the claimant means of livelihood and occasioning emotional distress to the claimant’s family.