RIVERS STATE CHIEF MAGISTRATE RESIGNS OVER APPOINTMENT OF SOLE ADMINISTRATOR. (PHOTO).

 Rivers State Chief Magistrate Resigns Over Appointment of Sole Administrator

Chief Magistrate Ejike George of the Rivers State Judiciary has resigned, citing his discomfort with the recent appointment of a Sole Administrator to govern the state, which he described as a “quasi-military administration.” George, who has served 16 years in the judiciary, announced his voluntary retirement in a letter dated April 11, 2025, addressed to the Honourable Chief Judge of Rivers State through the Secretary of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission.

In the letter titled ‘Voluntary Retirement From Service,’ George expressed dismay over the state’s governance direction, calling it “alien” and “antithetical” to the values of the legal profession. “This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern state like ours,” he wrote. He added, “Having put in 16 out of my 22 years of legal practice into this Judiciary as Magistrate under successive democratic administrations, I find it difficult to work with the current setting, as doing so would amount to a tacit and naive acquiescence.”

George thanked the judiciary for the opportunity to serve but stated that the current governance system conflicted with his professional principles.