Politics
We’ll Form Parallel Govt – Amaechi
Activities in Government House continued on a strong
note as early in the week Governor Chibuike Amaechi presided over the State Executive Council meeting to discuss issues of development and governance.
On Wednesday of Abuja, Governor Amaechi with other top leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) carried out a Salvation Rally ahead the 2015 general elections. The rally ended at the Police Headquarters in Abuja where the party leaders condemned the impunity of the Federal Government in disobeying court orders.
Speaking at the rally, Governor Amaechi said, “Today all of us must decide as a nation whether we will allow the president to continue to disobey court orders. The court has said that he should give the Speaker his police and his SSS and the president has disobeyed. Today, the President must tell us why our brothers and sisters are dying in Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa and they are enjoying in Abuja.
The Rivers governor went on to say that the APC will resist rigging in next your general elections and will forum a parallel government if the elections are not conducted transparently.
Responding to comments trailing Governor Amaechi’s speech at the APC rally in Abuja, Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari submitted that the governors remark has been taken out of contest. In the words of Mrs Semenitari, “I know that these are times when everyones nerve is on edge, but maybe we can pause and really reflect of what Governor Amaechi actually did say. His point was that in a free and fair election all parties would feel satisfied that having done their best the people have made a decision and therefore everyone must abide by it, but where the election and the process are tainted and evidently skewered or rigged to subvert the people’s will then, the people would have to rise to defend their votes. The Rivers Information Commissioner maintained that Governor Amaechi is not first person to have made such a call considering the fact that similar incident had occurred in the South West shortly after Babangida administration cancelled June 12, 1993 elections.
Semenitari emphasized that there was nothing inciting about the governor’s statement, and called on well-meaning citizens to disregard any misconstrued view from the issue.
On Thursday, Special Assistant to Governor Amaechi on students matters, Comrade Mathew Osika disclosed that the state government has started paying students bursary. Though, the exercise has been marred with poor data provision by beneficiaries, Osika stated that all modalities have been put inplace to check hiccups.
Osika blamed students for the few hitches witnessed since the exercise began, urging them to provide accurate data to the banks to enable them access their stipends.
According to the governors aide on students matters, over 8,000 students from various tertiary institutions of learning have been paid. He assured those who have not received theirs to be patient as the exercise was still in process.
Also last week, Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Emma Chinda excoriated the former Minister of State for Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike over comment concerning the ceded Soku Oilwells, Chinda lambasted the People Demoratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant for failing to say the truth over the oil wells even when he was in Amaechi administration.
“Wike should desist from playing politics of calumny and to show genuine support to Kalabari to return their oil well, Chinda said.
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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