Rivers
Mixed Reactions Trail August 30th LG Elections In Rivers … RSIEC Says No Going Back
As the Local Government elections fixed for Saturday, August 30, 2025, draws closer, the possibility of a hitch-free process is increasing due to reactions of Political party officials and other stakeholders over the legitimacy of the planned exercise.
Recall that the Michael Ekpai Odey-led Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on July 28, 2025, announced a shift in date for the polls, moving it from an earlier proposed August 9 to August 30, 2025.
In a chat with Journalists, Darlington Nwauju, spokesman of the Emeka Beke-led faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, said the conditions necessary for the conduct of council polls on August 30 have not been met by RSIEC.
Nwauju hinted that his party, APC, may boycott the elections, if all necessary conditions for credible, free and fair elections are not met.
His position was in disagrrenent with that of Chairman of the rival APC faction, Chief Tony Okocha, who said the party is ready to go to the polls on August 30 as fixed by RSIEC.
With the two different positions emerging from same Political party (APC), the likelihood of the APC not participating in the elections looks imminently reminiscent of the situation both in 2019 and 2023.
“On June 25th this year, INEC, which is the principal election management body in Nigeria, issued an advisory, stating that whereas it has plans to conduct bye-elections to fill several spaces and constituencies that require to be filled as a result of either death, resignation or whatever reasons, that they are not able to conduct elections in Khana Constituency 2 citing the state of emergency in Rivers State.
“Finally, and very importantly, the Supreme Court had warned, flowing the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, which ordered INEC not to issue a voter’s register to the state Independent Electoral Commission led by Justice Enebeli, that without an updated voter’s register, elections must not go on at the local government levels in Rivers State”, Nwauju said.
The factional APC Spokesman, whose faction is in court over control of the party in Rivers State, said given the issues raised, APC will not be in a hurry to go into the elections until the necessary criteria are put in place to ensure a free and fair poll.
On the other hand, Okocha, the rival state chairman of the APC, immediately after the RSIEC announcement on July 28, said his party is ready: “any time, any day” to participate in the council polls.
He suggested that some stakeholders were concerned with the previous arrangement to conduct the council polls, because “things were not done properly”, adding that his party is satisfied with the present arrangements to hold the polls.
On her part, the State Chairman of the Labour Party, Hilda Dokubo, said her party will study the documents, timetable and references presented by RISEC before presenting a position on the matter.
Dokubo, who did not go into the legality or otherwise of the proposed council polls, added that the concern of her party “what is in the best interest of the people.”
Meanwhile, the RSIEC Commissioner in Charge of Political Party Affairs/ Monitoring/Security, Prof Godfrey Ngozi Woke, had earlier said the elections would hold as planned.
Woke noted that the present RSIEC administration is mere acting on the time table of the precious administration which, according to him, was not under any form of challenge.