17 Political Parties Set For Rivers LG Polls

With 19 days left for the Saturday August 30, 2025 Local Government Council elections in Rivers State, about 17 political parties have submitted their list of nominees for Championship and Councilorship positions for the elections.

Among the parties are the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), and Labour Party (LP).

Two other parties, National Rescue Movement (NRM) and Action Alliance (AA), were stepped down, by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) from submitting list of candidates due to leadership tussle within the parties, while Boot Party (BP) declined to participate in the polls.

RSIEC’s Commissioner in charge of Political Parties Affairs/Monitoring/Security, Prof. Godfrey Ngozi Woke, in a chat with newsmen recently in his office, said all the 17 parties fielded candidates for the chairmanship position of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state.

“Out of the political parties, two have issue of who will become the leader of the party. So we said that we are not going to give them form (for participation) until we are able to resolve.

“We have almost 18 political parties now that have agreed to run the elections, including the APC and the PDP, Labour Party. In fact, all the parties have complied”, he said.

According to him, the Commission is  on course and ready  to deliver as envisaged.

Woke had last week informed newsmen that the Commission will proceed with conduct of the local council polls on August 30 as scheduled.

He was responding to concerns over the timeframe for the elections and the 90-day notice. To which, he said the 7th commission was only acting on the election notice earlier issued by the 6th commission.

Woke said the 6th commission had announced on March 5, 2025 of its plans to conduct council elections in the state, adding that since it was not challenged by any political party or individual that they would go ahead with the election.

He also noted that the new date still accommodated the 150 days window and added that the the previous announcement was still subsisting.

A source within the commission informed The Tide that out of the two APC factions in the state, only the one led by Tony Okocha has approached the Commission for participation in the August 30 local council polls.

Spokesman of the rival faction led by Emeka Beke, Darlington Nwauju, had earlier expressed concerns over issues of timeframe for the elections and legality, suggesting a likely boycott.

With the latest political development in the state, pundits in the political arena are of the view that the state may in the nearest future belong or operate “one party system”.

By: King Onunwor