Politics
I Stand For A Kalabari Gov But… – GDI Coordinator
Disciple Peter Abbey, the Degema Local Government Area Coordinator of the Grassroots Development Initiative, GDI, a political pressure group founded by the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has declared his desire to see a Rivers State Governor of Kalabari extraction on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Abbey, who was also, until recently, the chairman of the Degema LGA chapter of the PDP said that while he would love to see a Kalabari man emerge as the party’s candidate for the governorship contest in next year’s general elections, and also emerge as successor to Governor Wike, the ultimate decision of who flies the party’s flag was beyond his personal wishes and aspiration.
Speaking exclusively with The Tide in Port Harcourt, he said that the final and binding governorship candidate decision was that of the party and he as a loyal party man will abide wholeheartedly by the resolution of the party and work with the choice of the party, irrespective of where the person comes from.
He said that the process of choosing a suitable candidate for the party will be a collective one and as soon as the decision is taken, all members of the party will be expected to sink their differences and work together for the overall success of the party, adding that the interest of the party is bigger than any individual or sectional interest.
According to Disciple Abbey, who just got elected as the PDP’s standard bearer for the Degema State Constituency seat in the Rivers State House of Assembly, “the party’s decision is final”.
“On the issue of riverine governor, there is nothing like a riverine governor. Let me say it emphatically, I stand with a Rivers State Governor of Kalabari extraction. That is what I, Peter Abbey, would pray it should be.
“But this is a party issue and Degema is not the only local government that make up Rivers State, and Degema PDP people are not the only PDP people in Rivers State.
“The family (PDP) will sit down, when the family sits down, and they look at it and they say we all agree that it should be here, we will all fall in line as we have always done.
“So, if the system (that is all of us) says let us go like this or like that, we all will queue up. If the system says it should go to the Kalabari area, so be it; if the system says it should not go to the Kalabari area, so be it”, he said.
The Degema PDP House of Assembly hopeful said the party’s primaries do not produce winners and losers but choices that would represent the party with members standing a chance to benefit from the success of the party in the general polls.
“We go for primaries, they vote. You win me? No, you don’t win me because we’re the same party. So, you can not come and say ‘ I don win you’. The issue is that the party has only said you represent us and as a member of the party, I will still benefit.
“So, all we have to do is to come behind you to see how we will work together for the greater good of the party”, he said.
By: Opaka Dokubo
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
-
Opinion3 days ago
Ancestorial Worship: My Take (1)
-
News8 hours ago
Customs Partners EFCC, NDLEA, Others To Tackle Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing
-
News8 hours agoFresh Ebola Scare As NCDC Records Two Cases
-
News3 days agoFG Must Address Nigerians’ Concerns On Reforms -Shettima …Warns Against Misuse of AI, Social Media
-
Niger Delta7 hours ago
PANDEF Seeks 50% Oil Derivation Allocation Increase
-
Rivers5 hours ago
Don Seeks Repositioning Of Tech Education For Dev
-
Education6 hours agoPAMO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY -Nullifies Arrest warrant on VC
-
Education6 hours agoIAUE MOVES TO END GHOST WORKERS SYNDROME AS 400 NEW NON-TEACHING STAFF UNDERGO MANDATORY ETHICS TRAINING