Ibok Ekwe Ibas

Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (born 27 September 1960) is a retired Nigerian Navy vice admiral, who was the 22nd Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of the Nigerian Navy from 2015 to 2021. He has served as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State since 18 March 2025, following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by President Bola Tinubu after declaring a state of emergency.

Background and education

Ibas was born in Nko, Cross River State, South South Nigeria. He enlisted into the Nigerian 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 the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar from 1972 to 1976. Between 1977 and 1979, he attended the School of Basic Studies Ogoja before proceeding to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1979.

Military courses attended and qualifications

Ibas has attended several military courses at home and abroad, including the Sub-Lieutenant Technical Course at INS Venduruthy in India from April 1983 to May 1984 and Primary Pilot Training at the 301 Primary Flying Training School at Nigerian Airforce Base in Kaduna from April 1986 to October 1987. He proceeded to the Armed 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 States Marine 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, NNS ''Quorra'' 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 the National 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 from Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Career

Ibas has held several appointments in the Nigerian Navy. As a midshipman, he served on board NNS ''Ruwan Yaro'', NNS ''Obuma'' and NNS ''Aradu''. He later served on board NNS ''Ayam'' and NNS ''Ekpe'' as a watch keeping officer after he was commissioned sub-lieutenant. He was to later become the executive officer of NNS ''Siri'', NNS ''Ekun'' and NNS ''Ambe'' between July 1993 and August 1996 as a lieutenant commander. He was the commanding 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 the Armed 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 as deputy commandant from January to February 2014.

Ibas was the naval provost marshal from April 2003 to June 2004 and was later the principal staff officer to the then CNS 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 the 22nd chief of the Naval Staff on 13 July 2015.

Diplomatic service

In July 2021, Ibas was appointed Nigeria's High Commissioner to Ghana, succeeding Olufemi Michael Abikoye. During his tenure (2021–2023), he:
* Facilitated the Nigeria-Ghana Business Council to strengthen economic ties
* Coordinated anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea with Ghana's navy
* Established a Nigerian Citizens Assistance Desk in Accra to support diaspora welfare

Administrator of Rivers State

On 18 March 2025, President Bola Tinubu in an official broadcast declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, suspending the incumbent Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Ngozi Odu, and members of the state's house of assembly.

^{''_{“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."}''}

Following the announcement, the President pronounced his nomination of the retired Vice Admiral as the Interim Administrator of the state's affairs:

''"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 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 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 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞."''

Awards and decorations

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 of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) was conferred on him by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Professional affiliations

Ibas holds the membership of several reputable professional organizations, such as the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Nigerian 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 in Tel 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 at Harvard 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.

Personal life

He is married to Theresa Ibas and they are blessed with 3 children.

Hobbies

Ibas enjoys reading, watching documentaries and playing golf.

See also

*Nigerian Navy

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibas, Ibok Ekwe
1960 births
Living people
Nigerian Navy admirals
People from Cross River State
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
National Defence University, Pakistan alumni
Nigerian Defence Academy alumni
Quaid-i-Azam University alumni
People of Efik descent
Chiefs of Naval Staff (Nigeria)
Commanders of the Order of the Federal Republic
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Star