The Rivers State Government has suspended all political office holders and appointees with immediate effect.

A statement issued on Wednesday by the Chief of Staff to the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), listed the affected officers as follows:

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG)

The Chief of Staff

All Honourable Commissioners

Chairmen and members of boards, councils of agencies, commissions, institutions, and parastatals

All Special Advisers, Special Assistants, and Senior Special Assistants

The statement further directed the suspended officials to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries in their respective ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).

In cases where no Permanent Secretary is in place, the most senior Director or Head of Administration is to take over.

This directive takes effect from Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has formally notified the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, about the receipt of a petition seeking her recall.

INEC confirmed the development through a statement by the Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, on Wednesday.

According to the Commission, the petitioners have now provided their contact details, including a mailing address, phone numbers, and email, in compliance with the commission’s guidelines.

This was after the Commission, on Tuesday, said the petitioners seeking Natasha’s recall have not yet met the necessary submission requirements.

The Commission had raised concern that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition through which they can be contacted as provided in Clause 1(f) of its Regulations and Guidelines

But in a statement on Wednesday, Olumekun said the contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, dated today Wednesday March, 26, 2025.

“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address. The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website”, the commission said.

“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the Constituency. This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission.

“We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent,” INEC added.

The Federal government has declared Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 1, public holidays to mark the 2025 Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

The Minister of the Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the announcement on behalf of the Federal government.

He congratulated the Muslim Ummah on the successful completion of the Ramadan fast.

Tunji-Ojo urged all Muslims to embrace the virtues of self-discipline, compassion, generosity and peace, emphasising the importance of love, forgiveness, and solidarity in building a harmonious society.

In a statement by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Magdalene Ajani, the minister urged Nigerians to use this festive period to pray for the peace, stability, and prosperity of the nation.