Women in Rivers on Friday staged a walkout during the Renewed Hope Empowerment Programme billed for 500 women in the State.
The walkout occurred when the wife of the State Sole Administrator, Ibok Ette Ibas, climbed the stage and attempted to deliver a speech at the programme.
The Guardian gathered that the women, who had trooped out with the hopes of welcoming and receiving the President’s wife, Sen. Remi Tinubu, who is the initiator of the empowerment scheme, felt disappointed.
Accordingly, instead of seeing the President’s wife, they saw the wife of the Sole Administrator, Lady Ete-Ibas, gearing up to address them at the event at EUI Event Centre in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of the State.
Angered by the development, the women staged a walkout.
The women, chanting “We want Sim, Give us Sim, we want Valery, We want Remi Tinubu to speak to us,” said that they did not understand in what capacity Lady Ete-Ibas was planned to address them, saying her husband is illegally occupying Government House, Port Harcourt.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on March 18, 2025, declared a State of Emergency in Rivers State and appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) as the Sole Administrator of the State.
Many residents, groups, and organisations have criticised the President’s action, describing it as unconstitutional and rejecting Ibas’s appointment. They also criticised the activities of Ibas, saying he is playing a written script to please his backers and thereby putting the interest of the Rivers people on the back stage.
Some of the women, in an interview, recounted what happened at the event.
One of the women, Salome Chinda, said, “We came out happily to receive the Nigerian First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu, but surprisingly and embarrassingly, we saw Mrs. Ibas. The Solad is on an illegal assignment, so his wife acting as First Lady is an aberration.”
Also, Ekpeye Favour said, “Rivers women today rejected Ibas and his wife because they are illegal. We were told to come and welcome the First Lady. We dressed in our good wrappers with T-shirts imprinted with the name of the First Lady, because we are appreciative of her goodwill and empowerment programme, only to be greeted with someone we do not know. We only have one governor and one governor’s wife. We love the President’s wife and we want her to address us, not the illegal occupants of Government House.”
