Politics
As PDP, APC Battle Over LG Polls In Rivers
Tuesday, September 16,
2014, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi inaugurated caretaker committee chairmen of 21 local government councils in Rivers State at Government House with an assurance that democratically-elected officials will run the councils in Rivers State next year. This is the second time caretaker committees would be made to oversee the affairs of the local government councils since the tenure of the democratically-elected council officials expired in June.
Out of the former CTC chairmen, seven of them including those of Opobo/Nkoro, Oyigbo, Obio/Akpor, Omuma, Bonny and Emohua local government areas were retained, while new CTC chairmen were appointed into 14 councils Only Degema and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas were exempted as the tenure of their chairmen is still running.
While inaugurating the CTC chairmen, Governor Amaechi said the State would organise LG elections immediately after the national elections. While charging the new CTC chairmen to serve the interest of the grassroot, the State Chief Executive sounded a note of warning that any of them found wanting will risk removal.
The newly inaugurated CTC have since begun work in their respective councils, but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State is crying foul and not happy that caretaker committees are still holding forth in the LGAs about three months after the tenure of the democratically-elected council officials expired. The party is equally worried that there are no hope of conducting polls at the third tier of government in the State before 2014 runs out.
Rivers PDP disagreed with Amaechi’s decision to conduct council polls next year immediately after the 2015 national elections. The PDP attributed Governor Amaechi’s decision to use caretaker committees instead of conducting council elections to the fear of defeat at the local government polls.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media to the party chairman, Jerry Needam, the Rivers PDP, challenged the state governor to a popularity contest through the conduct of council elections.
PDP had been the ruling party in Rivers State since 1999, but with the defection of Governor Amaechi, his executive and majority of the lawmakers at the State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP lost its ruling status. Providing a critical searchlight on the activities of now APC-led government in the State is seen by PDP as a better instrument to position and launch itself back to political reckoning.
If there are doubts about the worry of Rivers PDP and what it plans to do in feasible future, the following statements said it all.
“The PDP regrets that it is the local government councils and the people that are at loss for not getting the leadership they deserve and by extension, are underdeveloped. We are on ground and ever prepared to engage Governor Amaechi and his All Progressives Congress in a free and fair electoral contest any day and are sure of coasting home in a landslide victory because we are genuine, caring, articulate and purposeful,” the statement added.
While PDP may be celebrating for taking APC and the Amaechi administration to task, Dr Davies Ibiamu Ikanya-led APC in Rivers State, fired back at the PDP.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, Ikanya blamed the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesome Wike and the lingering political crisis in the State for the delay in the conduct of local government elections in the state.
Apart from alleging that Wike engineered the political crisis in the state which has made it impossible for the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to conduct council polls, Ikanya insists that “the non-conduct of the council elections in the State is not out of the fear of anybody or out of the fear of losing to PDP but for the sake of peace.”
Ikanya said the clarification has become necessary to correct the propaganda by Rivers PDP that Governor Amaechi did not conduct local government elections because he was afraid of defeat. Many may wonder why APC involved. The State APC Chairman alleged that Wike’s unseen hand manipulated the National Judicial Council (NJC) to favour the choice of Justice Daisy Okocha as the State Chief Judge instead of allowing the governor to exercise his constitutional powers to appoint a chief judge in the State in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“That was the genesis of the crisis in the Judiciary in Rivers State. This has incapacitated judicial activities in the State. The fact remains that you cannot conduct elections without the judiciary because without a chief judge of the State who is expected to constitute an election tribunal to handle petitions that may arise after the elections, such polls would be an exercise in futility,” the APC chairman said.
Ikanya added that “if the PDP is actually serious about meeting its waterloo in the council elections in the state, it should prevail on Wike to stop the judicial crisis in the State by asking the NJC to allow the governor to exercise his constitutional powers to appoint the most qualified judge as the Chief Judge of the State.”
Like PDP, the APC also boasted that “if election is conducted today, the PDP would not win any councillorship position in any of the local government areas of the State.”
Justifying why Governor Amaechi cannot succumb to PDP’s challenge of conducting LG polls, this year Ikanya said “the governor, as a man who has great respect for the laws of the land, cannot engage in an exercise that would be stalled halfway just because he wants to satisfy a non-existing party like PDP in the State.”
Beyond the issue of the council polls that have engaged both PDP and APc in war of words, the issue of who takes over from incumbent Governor Amaechi lies the intense agitation in the politics of Rivers State.
While the concern of Rivers men and women is raging without measure about who gets the governorship ticket of PDP, the same cannot be said of who becomes the State APC gubernatorial flagbearer. Right now, no fewer than 10 aspirants with posters are known to be jostling for the PDP governorship ticket, but nobody has formally declared governorship interest under the APC platform.
But the body languages of two APC Rivers members at the National Assembly, however, indicate that they may be eyeing the Rivers Brick House.
Whether PDP is “sure of coasting home in a landslide victory when election is conducted in Rivers State” or the APC believes that “the PDP cannot win councillorship seat in any of the local government areas,” the factor remains that tomorrow’s political race has begun in earnest and it takes the runner on the fast lane to arrive the destination point with good results. Which party gets the good result and picks the political crown of glory – PDP or APC? Only time will tell.
Samuel Eleonu
Cross section of Chairmen Caretaker Committees taking their oath of office at the swearing-in at Government House, Port Harcourt recently. Photo: Chris Monyanaga
During a press conference held in Owerri, the coalition called the campaign a “dangerous and shameful display” designed to distract the public from the governor’s performance in office.
The CSOs directly linked the Greater Imo Initiative (GII) —the group that made the allegations on September 4, 2025—to Governor Uzodimma, describing the group as his “mouthpiece and attack dog.”
“Every word spoken against INEC was spoken on his behalf.
“By falsely alleging that Professor Yakubu has an alliance with Dr. Amadi to compromise the 2027 elections, Uzodimma has not only maligned a man of proven integrity but also assaulted the very foundation of our democracy”, said Dr Agbo Frederick, speaking for the coalition.
The coalition described Professor Yakubu as a “beacon of electoral professionalism” and called the attempt to soil his reputation “defamatory and a national security risk.”
They also defended Dr. Amadi, a “respected development scholar,” stating that the governor’s accusations were “laughable, desperate, and dangerous.”
The CSOs see the motive behind the campaign as an attempt to “silence the dissent, intimidate the opposition, and divert attention from the governor’s abysmal record in office.”
The coalition issued four key demands to Governor Uzodimma: An immediate retraction of the false and defamatory allegations against Professor Mahmood Yakubu and Dr. Chima Amadi.
- A public apology to both men within seven days, to be published in at least three national newspapers and broadcast on major television networks.
- An end to diversionary tactics and proxy propaganda.
- A renewed focus on governance, including addressing insecurity, unemployment, and poverty in Imo State.
The CSOs warned that failure to comply would force them to “review our position with a view to seeking legal redress from Governor Uzodimma for defamation, false accusation, and reckless endangerment of lives.”
“Governor Uzodimma must be reminded that he did not find himself in the seat of power to chase shadows.
“We call on all Nigerians to reject Uzodimma’s diversionary antics as they are nothing short of desperate plots by a government terrified of accountability”, the statement concluded.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC expressed concern that preventing the senator from resuming her legislative duties violates democratic principles and disenfranchises her constituents.
“The suspension, having been imposed by the Senate and not a court of law, has lapsed. Any further attempt to prevent her from resuming is therefore both illegal and morally indefensible,” Mallam Abdullahi said.
The party noted that denying Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan access to the chamber silences the voice of the people who elected her, adding that the withdrawal of her salary, aides, and office access during the suspension amounted to excessive punishment.
The ADC also criticised the Clerk of the National Assembly for declining to process her resumption on grounds that the matter was before the courts, arguing that the Clerk’s role was administrative, not judicial.
“Administrative caution must not translate into complicity. When the administrative machinery becomes hostage to political interests, the institution itself is diminished,” the party stated.
Highlighting that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan is one of only four women in the 109-member Senate, the ADC warned that the handling of the case sends a discouraging signal about gender inclusion in Nigerian politics.
“Any action that resembles gender intimidation of the few women in the Senate would only discourage women’s participation. Nigeria cannot claim to be a democracy while excluding half of its population from key decision-making spaces,” Mallam Abdullahi added.
The ADC insisted that Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan be allowed to resume her seat immediately, stressing that the matter was about more than one individual.
“What is at stake here is not just one Senate seat, but the integrity of our democracy itself,” the party said.
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