Politics
Rivers LG Elections: Forum Seeks ONOLGA Chairmanship Zoning
Kalama Patriotic Forum (KPF), a socio political organisation of Opobo Island 2 in the Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area (ONOLGA), has appealed to Governor Siminalayi Fubara to prevail on the political leadership of the LGA to zone the next council chairmanship seat to the island.
According to a press statement made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt, the forum said “Since 1999 nobody from our axis have occupied that office”.
It argued that Kalama community is yet to occupy the highest political office of the LGA even though Kalaibiama had produced an elected chairman and two times caretaker chairmen; Queens Town had produced two terms elected chairman for six years; and Opobo main town had produced two terms elected chairman and four appointed caretaker chairmen.
According to the forum, “To this end, fairness, equity and moral reasoning demand that the people of Kalama in Opobo Kingdom should produce the next Chairman come October LGA election, inorder to give the nine communities a sense of belonging”.
The statement, jointly signed by the president, Ferdinand Minima, and Warisenibo Tamunodipiri Opusunju, also commended Governor Fubara for the appointment of Warisenibo Joe Johnson as Commissioner for Information and Communications .
It also commended the Governor for the Opobo Town ring road project, as well as the approval for the construction of the Kalaibiama – Epelema road and bridge to link the entire Kalama communities from Ekereborokiri to Okpukpo and linking of Queens Town, adding that the feat was indication that Almighty God brought Governor Fubara to develop Opobo Kingdom and the entire Rivers state.
The statement urged retrogressive elements in the state working to destabilize the government to realize that God has a purpose for choosing Governor Fubara to lead the state at this time, and urged them to sheath their swords and join the Governor to develop the state.
The forum also called on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Nyesom Wike, to understand that there can be only one governor at a time in Rivers State while calling on President Bola Tinubu to make peace in Rivers state by reining in the FCT Minister
According to the Forum, “That Lagos State is working is as a result of allowing the Governor the latitude to discharge his duties without federal or presidential intimidation”.
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.
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